Avatar: The Last Firebender Old
by Tera253
Summary: An alternate universe where the Fire Nation has been nearly obliterated by the Air Warriors: a confederacy of Rogue Air Nomads. Read to learn how these people rose to power-and find out if Aang and his friends have what it takes to stop them.  closed
1. The Boy in the Iceberg Part 1

AVATAR—The Last Firebender—an ATLA classic with a few interesting nationality/plot twists.

AUTHOR'S NOTES—y'allz can take a small bit of comfort in knowing that this is not just the Avatar plotline where the characters have been mixed around. There are different events and plotlines mixed in as well. Furthermore, I like feedback. [/HintHint]

Also worthy of noting is that this story is divided by episode (with most episodes having multiple "parts"). Therefore, just like with the real series, you can jump into any given episode by clicking the appropriate chapter. Chapters that have unfamiliar names have a tendency to be explanatory sections that either help explain the status of the world, or gives a little insight on the AU backstories of some of our favorite heroes. [notably at this point are chapters 15 and 16. Chapter 15 touches on the lives of Sokka and Katara, while Chapter 16 gives insight about Zuko's Family, as well as how the Air Warriors rose to power in the first place.]

* * *

PROLOGUE

_Water._

_Earth._

_Fire._

_Air._

_Long ago, the Four Nations lived in harmony together—but that all changed with the rise of the Air Warriors. Ferocious fighters from the Eastern and Western Air Temples, the Air Warriors were relentless marauders who sought revenge on the world for the damage done to the Air Nomad society years ago. Their first target was the Fire Nation—the same land that in times past had nearly wiped out the Air Nomads in their entirety._

_Their attacks continued, and they gained favor in the eyes of the powerful Northern Water Tribe. The Air Nomads in the Northern and Southern Air Temples fought as a resistance force, but they were hardly prepared for the violent attacks that befell them. They soon had little choice but to back down from the war, or they too would be annihilated by the Air Warriors. These raiders saw little difference between fellow airbenders and enemies._

_Only the Avatar, Master of all four elements, would be able to stop them, but then the world needed him most—he vanished... There were stories that by this time the Air Warriors had control over the Air Temples, the Fire Nation, much of the Earth Kingdom, and parts of the Northern Water Tribe. The Fire Nation was all but devoid of benders. _

_My Uncle and I soon discovered the new Avatar—an Airbender named Aang. Surprised that he was not an Air Warrior, we learned that he had little knowledge of the other elements either, let alone firebending. We're not sure if there are any of them left, but at this point, it seems that the only way out of this war would be to resurrect the old Fire Nation tactics of old._

_Now we just need to find out if there even are any firebenders left in the world…_

_=Zuko=_

AVATAR: THE LAST FIREBENDER

BOOK 1: WATER

CHAPTER 1-1: THE BOY IN THE ICEBERG, PART 1

_Waters around the Southern Water Tribe; midday_

Another skirmish had broken out again in the waters surrounding the Southern Water Tribe. Not to the surprise of the Southern Water Tribe warriors, it was another Air Warrior raid. The convoy of Water Tribe ships had been returning from a trip to a small icy island where they were able to rest up. They were on their way home from an excursion that had taken them to the southern Earth Kingdom, and so this was their last sstop before the Southern Water Tribe itself.

"Third time this week," Chief Iroh muttered as he ordered his warriors to the defensive. Air Warrior dive-bombing raids were always deadly strikes. They had the skies to their completely advantage, and there were the occasional times where their victims could do nothing but watch and attempt to defend as these relentless female foes came and attacked them. However, Iroh's Southern Water Tribe was definitely not one of those who would just back down and be gutless.

"Zuko," Iroh called out, "help them launch the iceberg spikes!"

Zuko simply nodded to acknowledge what his uncle said, and he helped a couple of other waterbenders form ice spies about 2-3 feet long. They set them in a catapult and flung them out. The Air Warriors took serious evasive maneuvers, as Iroh's Iceberg Spikes had proved in times past to be the bane of gliders or war balloons. While airbending could often times keep the airbenders afloat, it was also very conventional to launch raids using balloons with heated air, or gliders, which also served as great dive-bombing forces. The Air Warriors could condense the air around their target and then let it loose, which created an explosion-type effect.

A few of the spikes hit their targets, but it seemed for every two or three Air Warriors they downed, one of their ships was sunk. Iroh's ship eventually became the last one still afloat, but the survivors simply froze themselves some icebergs to climb up onto, and then attacked from there. The nonbender warriors were the ones they had to watch closely, as they could not bend themselves out of the freezing waters like the waterbenders could.

Zuko was part of the aiding force in rescuing some of the nonbenders who had not found something solid to stand on. Despite the fact that they could not bend, they were still valuable assets, as their spears, arrows, and boomerangs were excellent forces at knocking these air raiders out of the sky.

Naturally, the waterbenders were the first targets for the Air Warriors, and once they were gone, they could just leave the nonbenders to freeze or drown in the frigid waters they were in. they aimed for anything large enough to stand on, and several waterbenders were able to divert the forces, but the Air Warriors had speed and the sky working for their advantage. They were also able to use the waters by forcing winds against the waters, creating waves.

"Damn it," Zuko swore under his breath,

"There's too many, uncle!" he shouted towards Iroh, who seemed unbothered.

"I understand that," Iroh called back, "but what choice do we have at this point—ZUKO GET DOWN!" Iroh brought large tendrils of water up between them, engulfing himself and Zuko. These water whips dragged the two waterbenders into the water, right as they heard a deafening explosion above them.

Iroh had used waterbending to form water around himself and his nephew, which he then froze. The impact from the blast above them, however, cracked the ice. However, it was enough for Iroh. Incidentally, this same tactic had been used by an avatar—over 100 years ago, and in a very similar location; also to avoid similar circumstances.

"bend the water away from your face," Iroh advised, "we've got to crack this up before the Air Warriors notice we're still alive."

Zuko did what he was told to, and the iceberg shattered as Iroh dissipated it. The two waterbenders remained under the water beneath a large piece of debris, but only for a few minutes. They knew that luckily, the Air Warriors did not linger after an attack—and it was a good thing, because the water was not feeling very good, and Zuko could already feel his feet growing tingly.

The two waterbenders emerged from the water. The battle was surprisingly short, and true to Iroh's assumption, the Air Warriors were already seen in the distance flying away.

Thinking quickly, Iroh and Zuko used their bending to form a large-sized iceberg, which they calmbered onto, and then bended the water out of their clothes to dry themselves off.

"Much better," Zuko thought to himself as he glanced at his uncle.

"So what are we going to do now?" he muttered to him, "it doesn't look like there are any survivors here."

"alas, it does not," Iroh sighed, "we need to make it back home now that our convoy has been broken up. I do not think we should try to forge our way back from here though—we should return to the other island."

'The other island' that Iroh was referring to was a massive ice sheet that served as a miniature base for various members of the Southern Water Tribe. It was not much, especially compared to the Southern Water Tribe village, but it made the stop hospitable, which it otherwise would not have been.

Without the ship, it obviously took much longer for Iroh and Zuko to reach their destination. However, when they arrived, they ran into yet another setback—it had been razed by the fleeing Air Warriors, who had found its location.

Zuko was furious. He had been working on controlling his anger for a long enough time, but even the calmest person can eventually get angry. He yelled loudly and jumped, stamping the ground with great force. In his anger, his waterbending cracked the ice in front of him. He stopped Iroh remained wary as well. Both of them were ready for yet another attack, but this proved to be something far different.

An iceberg—spherical in its shape, rose from the massive cracks in the ground. Zuko and Iroh both looked at each other with skeptical glances, but eventually, the rising iceberg stopped.

"don't make any sudden moves," Iroh warned, "we do not know what this is."

"When did that stop us," Zuko remarked, almost cracking a smile,

Iroh grinned. "it didn't," he replied, and he and Zuko approached the frozen sphere.


	2. The Boy in the Iceberg Part 2

AVATAR: THE LAST FIREBENDER

BOOK 1: WATER

CHAPTER 1-2: THE BOY IN THE ICEBERG, PART 2

_iceberg a few miles from the Southern Water Tribe; afternoon_

Zuko and Iroh approached the giant sphere of ice with caution, but at the same time, both of them were eager to find out what it was, and were ready to challenge whatever or whoever was inside it should it prove to be hostile. Zuko whipped out his club, threw it high into the air, and launched himself up after it. Catching it in the air, he spun around, striking the ice several times and in several places as he fell back to the ground. Once he landed, he swung his club one more time against the ice, and he chipped it. He glanced back towards his uncle and gave him a look.

"I like that idea," Iroh replied, and the two waterbenders thrust their arms forward and stamped their feet, finishing a pose. A crack appeared in the ice below them, and it went in the direction of the sphere in front of them. It climbed up the side of the bubble, popping shards of ice out at each point that Zuko had struck it with his club as he had jumped. Suddenly, the whole bubble began to fall away, and a huge ray of light shot up into the air.

* * *

_skies just south of Southern Air Temple grounds; same time_

"That's what we're looking for," A female Airbender smirked as she faced her crew.

"Ladies and gentlemen," she declared to them, "I believe that our nation's 100-year search is about to come to an end!"

The crowd of warriors on the ship, which were mostly comprised of female airbenders, cheered. There were a few men, but most of them were Water Tribe or Earth Kingdom rebels. A few people, both male and female, were Fire Nation survivors that had been extorted into fighting for the Air Warrior Confederation, but none of them were benders. Nevertheless, all of them cheered, and they diverted the course of their airship towards the south—towards the light.

* * *

_same ice island as before; same time_

Zuko and Iroh jumped back after seeing the ice ball explode. However, only a few seconds after it began, it dissipated, and out of the mess, a young, brown-haired boy of about 16 tumbled out and landed face-down in front of them. Iroh and Zuko both approached him with caution. Iroh turned him over and noticed the airbending tattoos on his forehead and hands. They both assumed that he also had them on his feet—making this boy's nationality very clear.

"It's an Airbender," he told his nephew, and Zuko looked apprehensive.

"So he's an enemy," Zuko exclaimed, "be careful, uncle!"

"I highly doubt that he is an enemy," Iroh replied, "remember, Zuko, that it is the warriors from the Eastern and Western Air Temples that were the enemies. The female airbenders are the leaders of this world war; not the male ones."

Zuko was still slightly skeptical, and so he used the end of his club to prod at the boy, hoping that he would wake up. He believed his uncle, and no longer thought about the possibility of the boy being an enemy. He wondered now where he had come from. The Southern Air Temple's inhabitants had been wiped out years before Zuko was even born. There were a few refugees and a lot of Air Warrior outposts, but Air Nomads proper had not inhabited that region for a while. Had he come all the way from the Northern Air Temple? Was he another bender in disguise? Perhaps he knew firebending. It had been ages since any firebenders had been seen.

The boy woke up a few moments later and rubbed his eyes. He muttered a few indecipherable words and then stretched and stood up. He rubbed his eyes again to gain focus, and then he noticed the two curious waterbenders standing in front of him.

"what happened to the tribe?" he exclaimed, thinking he was at or around the Southern Water Tribe capital.

"This is not the Southern Water Tribe," Iroh replied, "This is an island a few miles north of there. I am Iroh—Chief of the Southern Water Tribe, and this is my nephew Zuko."

"My name's Aang," the young man replied, running his fingers through his short, spiky hair, "Where's Appa?"

Zuko and Iroh exchanged skeptical looks, but Aang did not seem to be directing that question at them. He turned around and climbed back into the remnants of the ice bubble that Zuko and Iroh had shattered. The other large mass was a Sky Bison. This had been a major factor in Zuko's original skepticism, as most of the sky bison in today's times were owned by the Air Warriors. However, the animals themselves did not solely serve their Air Warrior masters, and so it was not impossible to believe that there would be others who owned them.

Aang kept saying the name Appa to the animal, and so Iroh and Zuko concluded that that was its name. Eventually it too woke up, making a few grunts and growls. He then turned back to Iroh and Zuko.

"This is Appa," he told them, "you guys have seen sky bison before, right?"

"Just a few times," Zuko replied. He did not want to mention the war that the Water Tribe was waging against the Air Nomads, because he figured that Aang and his flying bison could be their ticket off of the island that they were otherwise stranded on.

Aang nodded to indicate that he acknowledged Zuko's reply, but then he jumped up into the air, whipping out a staff in the process. He flew in a small circle and then landed back down in front of Zuko and Iroh.

"Where's your boat?" he asked them, "or did you swim out here?"

"There is no way we could have swum up here without freezing to death," Iroh replied, "we were caught in an ambush and our ship was destroyed in the process."

"Oh," Aang replied, "well I can take you two back to the Southern Water Tribe on Appa if you want. I've wanted to go there for a while now, but that old war kind of kept me back."

Zuko was about to ask what 'old war', but he and Iroh both noticed that clouds were moving their way, and that meant that a storm was heading towards them. If they were lucky, they would miss it completely, but they did not want to take their chances. They alerted Aang of the incoming storm.

"Then let's hurry," he replied, climbing up onto Appa's saddle and motioning for them to follow. "The last thing I want to do is get caught in another storm. The first one was bad enough."

Zuko and Iroh both glanced at each other, but they figured they would ask him their series of questions later. Getting home before the storm outprioritized getting a few curiosities satisfied. What none of them realized though, was that the storm was not the only thing that was heading in their direction.


	3. The Boy in the Iceberg Part 3

AVATAR: THE LAST FIREBENDER

BOOK 1: WATER

CHAPTER 1-3: THE BOY IN THE ICEBERG, PART 3

_waters around the Southern Water Tribe; later in the afternoon_

Both Zuko and Iroh knew how the sky bison flew—they were well-familiar with Air Warrior raids, particularly those from the Eastern Air Temple, where huge herds of sky bison were raised. When possible, they would try to only attack those riding the beasts instead of the beasts themselves, but sometimes; even that series of tactics was not always possible. Such were the casualties of war.

"Yip, Yip!" Aang called out, and Appa leapt into the air. A few seconds later, he plopped back down into the water. The jolt was enough to knock Zuko loose, but his swift reflexes saved him from taking yet another plunge into the icy depths. He swung his arm around as he fell, bringing a wave of water up beneath him. He froze this, and then used his own momentum to glide across it and back on top of the saddle and next to his uncle, where he curled up with his hands around his shins and his face half-hidden behind his knees. There was no real reason for him taking this position other than that he wanted to, or maybe he was still a little chilly.

"You've learned well," Iroh smirked, and Zuko turned to face him. Iroh slipped a coin into Zuko's palm. Zuko's whole incident where he had nearly plunged into the icy depths had not been an act, neither had the coin been of much value. Rather, it was just Iroh's own satisfaction that his nephew's waterbending skills were by no means novice anymore. Aang meanwhile, had turned around to face the two waterbenders.

"So tell me about yourselves," he invited, "you two are obviously from the Southern Water Tribe."

"We are," Zuko nodded, though he remained curled up, "and so does your bison know how to get there from here?"

"I think so," Aang replied, "we've been to the Southern Water Tribe Capital several times."

The Southern Water Tribe Capital remained where it always had been, but the population of that entire region had dramatically increased in the last 100 years. Under the command of various powerful Water Chiefs, including Iroh, the tribe had expanded into several small cities that were linked to the main capital city. Even the smallest village had significant anti-airbender defenses mounted, as they were used to repetitive Air Warrior raids.

"Alright," Zuko nodded. "Well, you already know our names and where we're from. There's not much else about us other than we've been holding off the Air Warriors successfully so far. You mentioned something about a storm earlier though—and an 'old war'. What was that all about? You weren't fighting the Air Warrior Confederation too, were you?"

"It was the Air Warriors that attacked the Southern Air Temple when I was there." Aang replied, "The monks at the temple told me to run. I didn't want to—I wanted to help fend the traitors off. It was only after they reminded me of who I was that I fled. I got caught in a storm on the way south. That was the last thing I remember about it. Maybe after we're done in the Southern Water Tribe I can take you guys to the Southern Air Temple."

"Maybe," Zuko shrugged. The last time he had checked or heard information on the subject, the Air Warriors had wiped out the Air Nomads at the Southern Air Temple because of their refusal to join with them on their quest to strengthen their confederacy. He had a feeling that "who Aang was" may be a crucially important missing link in the war. He whispered this to Iroh, who agreed with him, and then Zuko addressed this question to Aang.

Just as he suspected, Aang hesitated for a moment, but then admitted he was the Avatar.

"That was why they told me to run," he confessed, "they did not want me getting caught by the Air Warriors."

Aang continued to elaborate his story of how he froze himself and Appa into an iceberg, and that was when his memory disappeared. He mentioned the year when he ran away, and that was the surprising factor to both Iroh and Zuko.

"Aang," Iroh warned, "you have been gone and frozen for over 100 years. Things may be a lot different than the way you last remembered them. The good news though, is that there are still Air Nomads who are not part of the Confederation of Air Warriors. The other good news is that you, the Avatar, are back. The unfortunate news is that there are other people searching for you, and not with good intentions."

Aang frowned. "The war isn't over then," he sighed, "I guess that's what I get for turning my back on the world. I knew I should have stayed and fought at the Southern Air Temple. If I had died, I would have just been reincarnated into the Water Tribes."

"That is in the past," Iroh remarked, "and there will be a time to mourn for our errors. However, what is most important for you at this point, Aang, is to decide what you are going to do with yourself and the world right here and right now."

"I'm not turning my back on the world again," Aang declared, "not this time. This time, I'm making my stand."

* * *

Eventually, they were able to return to the Southern Water Tribe Capital with little trouble. Iroh was the first to reappear off of Appa, and then he and Zuko explained to some of the villagers (who in turn relayed the information to the remainder of the Tribes and cities) the condition of themselves in the Air Warrior raid they got caught in, as well as the identity of their newfound airbending guest. Like Zuko had been previously, many of the Southern Water Tribespeople were a bit apprehensive at the presence of an airbender, but after Aang explained that he too fought off Air Warriors and that most of the confederation was composed of vicious female airbenders, the villagers too were pacified.

By the time they had gotten back, evening had fallen. Aang stayed at the Chief's palace with Iroh and Zuko, and App was close by outside. The entire tribe was wary, but they did not have upped security in the evenings, as that was when waterbenders were at their strongest. The Air Warriors knew this, and so most of their attacks were in the mornings, as they had long since learned that they were unable to attack Iroh's Water Tribe effectively through night ambushes and raids.

* * *

The only thing that had kept Aang's follower back had been the storm that Iroh and Zuko had seen coming. She and her warriors camped out on a sheltered piece of ice, and they too weathered the storm as it raged around them. Even though the iceberg on which Aang had been found had been a ways away from the Southern Tribe, it was still in a close enough direction that they would have a good idea where to go from there once they found out that Aang was absent…


	4. The Boy in the Iceberg Part 4

AVATAR: THE LAST FIREBENDER

BOOK 1: WATER

CHAPTER 1-4: THE BOY IN THE ICEBERG, PART 4

_Southern Water Tribe; morning_

The next morning, Zuko showed Aang around the Southern Water Tribe, mostly so that he could become accustomed to the layout of the place, especially if there was a battle. The Southern Water Tribe, much like its sister in the north, was facing consistent attacks from Air Warrior raids, and some rebellions in the north.

The Water Tribe was currently the most powerful nation in the world. However, the Air Warriors were able to gain victories over the other three nations because of a simple few advantages they had which also served as weaknesses to the other three nations. The skies were entirely ruled by the Air Warriors, and utilizing air-powered balloons and airships, they were successfully able to execute effective airstrikes against the other three nations. The Fire Nation, which they labeled as their largest threat, was eradicated of firebenders, and was done so also to settle an old score.

Zuko told Aang of what he knew of the Fire Nation's current status. He said that it was still inhabited, but firebenders were believed to be wiped out. It did not mean they could not make a return, but they would not be able to make such a return as long as the Air Warriors were in power.

Shortly after Zuko finished showing Aang around the city, they returned to the Chief's Palace, where Iroh received word that there were Air Warriors on the move.

"They are not exactly coming this way," the scout informed them, "but they are on the move, and are in our general area, so it might be a plan for an attack."

"We will alert the surrounding villages immediately." Iroh declared, and then he stood up and turned to Zuko. Iroh was far from being a chief who simply sat around and gave orders. He was going to be one of the first that was in on any warfaring action, and his actions boosted morale of fellow Water Tribespeople.

"Zuko," he ordered, "alert the surrounding villages to the east of here. It is not a state of emergency yet, but we would like them to be on their guard and at their ready. They need to prepare their anti-aerial weaponry to counter any attack. Take Aang with you when you go."

"Yes sir," Zuko saluted, and he stood there, waiting for Aang. Iroh turned to face the young airbender, and gave him a few words of wisdom as well.

"They are probably looking for you," Iroh warned him, "do not feel that it is your fault, however. The Air Warriors have been harassing the Water Tribes for a much greater time than you have been here."

"Either way," Aang remarked, "my being here will draw them here. Therefore, my duty is to fight in defense of those who I am with."

"I understand that," Iroh nodded, "so stay careful and don't let your guard down."

With a nod towards him and Zuko, Zuko took off with Aang following him. They were able to successfully alert several villages to the east of the capital city (other scouts had taken those west, south, and southeast of the capital; north was the sea), but on their way back, they came across a sight that not even Zuko recognized.

It was an old Fire Nation ship, and more importantly, they had just seen someone go inside of it. Aang was curious to find out who would hide in such a place, and furthermore, what it was doing here of all places—especially if the Fire Nation was in shambles. He asked Zuko about it, and Zuko paused. He could not her any war horns or calls to duty, so he figured that so far, this was only a preparation instead of an actual battle. With this in mind, he agreed to peer inside the ship.

Once inside, Aang called out a few times, but no one answered. They could hear clanking around, but there was otherwise no response. Suddenly, there was a loud explosion, and both Zuko and Aang could hear the streaking noise of a flare blasting skyward. Because they were inside the ship, they did not notice the rogue airbender the flew out and away. Her movement however, was noticed by the Southern Water Tribe, who now called its citizens to arms.

"Someone set this up," Zuko warned, "hurry; we need to get back to the tribe."

Aang agreed, and whipped out his glider. "Hold on tight," he warned, and Zuko put his arms around Aang from behind. Zuko was significantly heavier than the lithe Aang, but comfort, or even conventionality about appearance, was rated second to their safe return.

Aided by airbending, Aang dashed across the icy surface of the South Pole region, and took to the skies at a low pace. Zuko's blue clothing stood out against the otherwise orange mass that was approaching them at a low altitude, and so there was little alarm once they saw that it was just Zuko and the Avatar returning and subsequently rallying to arms.

Catapults were armed with razor-sharp icicle spikes. Warriors who were not waterbenders were armed with bows, arrows, throwing spears, and boomerangs. Boomerangs in particular were an effective weapon for KOing Air Warriors or sabotaging their war balloons and airships. Aang was armed with his glider, while Zuko and Iroh mostly relied on their waterbending skills to do the job for them. Either way, they were set for a huge battle.

* * *

_waters north of the Southern Capital; same time_

The Air Warrior was swift in returning to her original location, and she gave her report.

"We've probably found the Avatar." she smirked, "are we going to launch the attack, commander?"

"Completely and immediately," her commander replied, "we weathered the first storm well enough; this one against the Southern Water Tribe should be just as easy."

At once several Air Warrior war balloons, zeppelins, and even a few battleships, mobilized. A lot of their naval machinery was taken as a cross between Water Tribe, Earth Kingdom, and Fire Nation Naval equipment, but their Air Force was by all means a power to consider. The Southern Water Tribe had resisted several of these attacks, but their strength was dwindling as the forces of the Air Warriors became more sophisticated. There was only so much an army could do to eliminate aerial opponents.

However, now that they knew where their target was, the Air Warriors would waste little time in getting there and launching another all-out attack.


	5. The Avatar Returns Part 1

AUTHOR'S NOTES—there will be times where I need to explain a few things as the story progresses, since this is not just a rewrite of the show with different character personalities/nationalities. This will be done [obviously] through Author's notes. Foremost, I would just like to inform anyone reading this that Book 1 (Water) will probably be the closest to the series, Book 2 (Earth) will branch much farther out, and Book 3 (Fire) will be dramatically different from the show. So those who were worried about this being a mere re-write can breathe calmly again.

As far as shipping and the likes, I do know that at least one pairing that happened in the show is not going to [be able to] happen. As for what DOES happen, I'll let it play itself out, and so we'll see…

Also note that there will be a few OCs throughout the series. Make of that what you will.

AVATAR: THE LAST FIREBENDER

BOOK 1: WATER

CHAPTER 2-1: THE AVATAR RETURNS, PART 1

_Southern Water Tribe Capital City, midday_

The preparations were done in swift, efficient order, and soon the entire fighting force of the Southern Water Tribe was ready for the upcoming invasion. They were not all in one position, but rather, their troops were scattered throughout the capital city and the surrounding villages and were armed with durable catapults, sturdy towers used to give anti-aerialists some altitude against their airborne foes, and the seas were lined with powerful battleships from the Water Tribe Navy.

Zuko and Aang were manning one of the catapult towers on the northeastern wall, while Iroh was standing atop one of the Water Tribe battleships. Iroh could be seen from Aang and Zuko's tower, and Aang in particular took interest in an orange-clad figure that stepped out. It was an Airbender with a thin frame, long, brown hair bunched up in a spiky ponytail, and airbender tattoos. In her hand was a glider, which was marked with various drawings and such. Aang was slightly appalled at seeing the marks on the woman's glider, even though he couldn't tell what they were. Furthermore, what on earth was an Air Warrior doing among the Water Tribe ranks?

"That's Xilingshi," Zuko told him to answer his question, "she's on pour side. She's marked here glider in defiance of the Air Warriors, and also so our own guys don't accidentally shoot her down. She's an expert dogfighter, and that really hits the Air Warriors where it hurts."

Aang suddenly smiled. "She and I would probably get along well," he remarked, "I loved dogfighting back at the Southern Air Temple. Most of the time I only did it for fun, but after the invasions started, I took a more serious approach. I think I know how I'm going to counterattack them now."

Zuko smirked. "We need more airbenders like you," he remarked, "that's probably what Iroh is talking to Xilingshi about. We wouldn't want her accidentally cutting you down."

Aang chuckled, but he did not find that part very funny. He did not doubt Xilingshi just yet, sine he and she hadn't met. He did pull out his glider and watch the horizon for the approaching armies.

"There they come," Xilingshi pointed as Iroh finished explaining to her about Aang. She twirled her glider a few times before taking to the skies. Her initiative inspired Aang to do the same, and he swooped off the tower and out towards the north, where silhouettes of ships, zeppelins, and gliders were starting to appear. Aang flew at a faster pace than Xilingshi, but only so he could catch up with her. She noticed him and glanced his way.

"You've got guts coming this far out, Avatar," she remarked, "We don't want you to get wiped out just yet. They'll tear you apart if you don't know what you're going up against."

Xilingshi neither knew nor cared how much Aang knew about the war, but Aang's knowledge of said war was actually much more than he let on to even Iroh and Zuko about. The two airbenders continued their flight until they had enough distance between them and the tribes to be a disorganizing force, but they remained close enough so that the Water Tribe catapults and battleship attacks could still hit their opponents.

"I doubt you'll have to worry about me that much," Aang remarked, and a few moments later, the first encounters with the Air Warriors occurred.

They had not changed much since the last time Aang remembered them, except perhaps now they looked much fiercer. Owing to their southerly location and the associated cold climates, the Air Warriors were wearing thicker clothing than usual, but it was still significantly different from the Air Nomad robes that Aang was used to back before the warriors at the Eastern and Western Air Temples rose to power. Ultimately, they looked and dressed much like Xilingshi did.

Aang's claim was not just confidence. His skill, along with Xilingshi's, showed as they started raining their fury down upon the approaching Air Warriors. Granted, two airbenders were not enough to take on the entire legion, but it did frustrate the advancement of the Air Warriors for a while.

Xilingshi was diving and dodging through the hoards of Air Warriors looking for someone, as Aang took a more defensive approach, and came off as the victor against a few war balloons and gliders. Soon, however, Xilingshi started pulling back as the advancement drew closer. Furthermore, she had found who she had been looking for.

"Azula's there," she warned Aang, "get back to the tribes!"

While Aang neither knew who Azula was nor wanted to retreat, he did so anyways, as Xilingshi was pulling back as well. He figured Iroh would know who Azula was, and so while Xilingshi took to a different part of the skies closer to the defenses of the Southern Water Tribe, Aang landed on deck, where Iroh was issuing commands to his soldiers operating the catapults.

"Azula," Iroh stated in answer to Aang's question, "is one of the highest ranking Air Warriors in service. She is the one that is adamantly looking for you. She is not the leader of the Air Warrior Confederation, but she is definitely an heir to that position. She is also Zuko's sister. She will probably use you as her excuse for attacking us again; your best bet would be to avoid her unless you wish to be captured."

Aang nodded, and suddenly wondered who their parents were. He figured he would worry about that later, and worry more about the war that was in front of them.

"Hold Close" Iroh ordered, and the warriors stood their ground. Zuko was issuing similar orders from the towers on the walls, and the onslaught commenced into an all-out war. The Air Warriors seemed indifferent of those in their ranks who fell, and not all of them were even airbenders. Some were glider-operators that used mechanical gliders instead of ones based off of airbending.

Azula was suddenly much more noticeable in the crowds of Air Warriors—and she couldn't be much older than 18. She had located Zuko, and the two were dueling on the wall. Azula was fast and furious as she fought, but the 20-year-old Zuko was slower and much more patient. His defenses worked well against Azula's vicious offenses for the time being. Zuko's intent was to stall her as long as possible before she ordered her troops to scour the tribes for the Avatar, but he was not sure how long he would be able to hold…


	6. The Avatar Returns Part 2

AUTHOR'S NOTES—apologies for the hiatus [if that even counts]. Apart from that, I'll give out a few words of comfort, or perhaps a few words of discouragement. Don't worry, Xilingshi is not some fill-in love interest for Aang or anything—or anyone else for that matter. The decision of who gets with who will be made much later on. I'm not even sure if I've decided that yet or not.

AVATAR: THE LAST FIREBENDER

BOOK 1: WATER

CHAPTER 2-2: THE AVATAR RETURNS, PART 2

_Southern Water Tribe_

Zuko and Azula continued their fierce fighting until Azula began to slowly overpower Zuko. It was not that Zuko's waterbending skills were lacking, but that Azula was a prodigious master and already a deadly force at her relatively young age. Her final move that got Zuko out of her way was a spinning aerial drill kick that knocked Zuko off the wall. He fell to the ground, and was momentarily stunned. By this time, however, Azula had noticed Iroh and Aang. She summoned a couple of Air Warriors to accompany her, and they whipped out their gliders and started flying towards them.

Aang and Iroh put up their guards and sent attacks at the oncoming Air Warriors, but Azula and the two women who flanked her had such swift reflexes that they even prevented even Iroh's attacks from making a mark. When they landed in front of Iroh, however, Azula raised her arms up to indicate that she wasn't going to attack.

"He's who we're after," she told Iroh, pointing at Aang, "give him to us, and your tirbe will be spared. Otherwise, you can proceed to watch it be destroyed."

Iroh said nothing, but looked over at Aang, who in turn looked over the Southern Water Tribe. The other soldiers were still fighting, and even Zuko, who had just been knocked down, was back on his feet and had manned a nearby catapult.

Naturally, Aang did not want to be captured, as it not only was the opposite of an Air Nomad's natural sense of freedom, but also because no person in their right mind would want to be taken captive by an enemy in any situation. However, he had come to the Southern Water Tribe, and now the Air Warriors were letting lose their hand of destruction upon this place. Aang felt like it was his reappearance that had led Azula and her minions here, and as a result, he felt like turning himself in would be the best thing to do.

"You have yourself a deal," he told Azula, "on the condition that you stick to your word and stop the attack on the Southern Water Tribe."

"I will be more than pleased to arrange that," Azula smirked, and as she led Aang away, she had her two cronies spread the word to the rest of the armies to pull back. They did so effectively enough.

"Pull back!" they bellowed, "we got what we came for!"

And with that, they seemed to quickly move out, and just as swiftly as they got here, they were departing back towards the seas. Iroh and those on the ships returned to the mtown center of the Tribes to assess the damage and other such things.

"Uncle" Zuko exclaimed after meeting up with him a few minutes later, "how could you let him go?"

"I didn't let him go, Zuko," Iroh replied calmly, "Aang chose to go on his own accord."

"We're going after him, right?" Zuko asked,

"How do you propose we do that?" Iroh asked, a smile growing on his face; he knew the answer, and it was standing right behind them.

"How do you think I got from the Eastern Wall to the town center so fast?" Zuko smirked, pointing behind him, where Appa was sitting. "hop on."

A few moments and a "yip yip" later, Iroh and Zuko were in the skies. The flying bison was much faster in the air than in the water, and so within a few moments Azula's fleet was once again in few. Zuko landed Appa on a nearby ice cliff, as they did not want to take a direct approach just yet. They would soon learn that they would not have to…

_Azula's Airship_

Aang was left in a confinement chamber deep inside Azula's airship. Already he began plotting his method of escape. A few minutes later, however, Xilingshi pushed the door open and noticed Aang.

"You've got it good," she chuckled, swinging her staff and combining an Airbending move with it to effectively cut Aang's bonds, "now you should get the hell out of here before they find you."

"You got any idea where they stuck my staff?" Aang asked her,

"probably in one of Azula's personal chambers," Xilingshi answered, "it shouldn't be that hard to find. I'll make a distraction. As soon as you hear the mayhem, run like hell and start searching."

She kicked the door open and ran out. Aang waited for a few moments and then noise of all sorts started sounding all around him. Aang took off, his swift airbending skills giving him an extra boost of speed as he did. He found Azula's chamber somewhat easily, as it was a very large room, but on his way out, several guards confronted him. They appeared to be nonbender rebels that had made allegiance with the Air Warriors.

"Oh come on," he rolled his eyes as he effectively dispatched them and took off, "did Azula really think that Random Guard numbers 1 and 2 would stop me?"

The truth of the matter was, was that Azula was after Xilingshi, and that she had ultimately underestimated the skills of Avatar Aang. She, like many others, had been expecting an ancient master when the Avatar was found, but seeing that it was only a young man of about 16 or 17, it was almost understandable that people would underestimate him. However, he, like Azula, was of prodigious skill, which was why they were near equally matched.

Aang was lucky enough to get to a place where he could take off and fly away with ease, without getting interrupted or intercepted by the guards, or worse, Azula. He did run into Xilingshi, whose face and right arm were covered in flecks of blood.

"What happened to you," Aang jumped,

"Nothing," Xilingshi quickly answered, "just get out of here."

Aang did as he was told, and right at that moment, Azula's cronies appeared and took hold of Xilingshi. She tried fighting back only to give Aang some more time, but once they noticed him flying away, they left Xilingshi and went after him.

"well," Aang muttered to himself, smiling "if they really want to lose at another dogfight, then so be it. It never really gets old…"

What Aang didn't realize, however, was how many things were really working to his advantage in this scenario. Xilingshi was working as an effective distraction, even now that the Air Warriors were coming after him and not her, and moreover, Zuko and Iroh were watching the whole thing, waiting for their opportune moment to strike…


	7. The Avatar Returns Part 3

AVATAR: THE LAST FIREBENDER

BOOK 1: WATER

CHAPTER 2-3: THE AVATAR RETURNS, PART 3

_skies above the Southern Seas, late afternoon_

Aang turned around and prepared to fight. The moment that her captors released her, Xilingshi also shot into the air, working as an effectively and infuriatingly annoying distraction.

"The day she gets shot down and killed cannot come soon enough," Azula growled, taking to the skies as Xilingshi kept Azula's cronies at bay, "I would quite love to set her ablaze myself."

Azula's appearance into the skies put Xilingshi in a bind. If she tried distracting Azula, Azula's minions would be relieved of the force that was holding them baclk and attack Aang. As a result, she left her up to Aang, while she zipped around shooting at war balloons and stray Air Warriors. She was a very effective fighter all in all.

Aang and Azula's airbending skills were about equal as they zigzagged through the cold skies, launching repetitive attacks at each other. Aang's attacks were more speed-based, while Azula's attacks were a healthy combination of power and speed that Aang rendered as dangerous. Zuko and Iroh were about to rush into the fray, but at the same time, Azula charged headlong into Aang, knocking him loose from his glider. He plummeted into the water, and Zuko and Xilingshi swore (though they were several hundred feet away from each other). Appa roared and he was about to see eye-to-eye with Zuko with the plan of charging towards the water, but apparently Aang had a different objective in mind—for he certainly wasn't dead when he hit the sea.

Aang shot upward in a spiraling vortex of water. His eyes and tattoos were glowing, and the water he was bending was swirling around him at a rapid pace. He spread his arms out and released the vicious torrent, which clipped several Air Warriors from the sky, and also damaged Azula's zeppelin enough that it started to sink in altitude. Aang then landed down on a chunk of ice and with the rest of his water knocked several of the ships back. This worked well enough as Appa's cue, and he flew down towards where his master was standing.

On the way down and over the water, Zuko noticed Aang's staff floating among the water, and so using a quick bending move, he pulled it up and into his hands. When Appa landed on the iceberg next to Aang, he and the three benders stood there, almost challenging the now crippled Air Warrior army to fight them. Naturally, Azula and her rew were not some to give up, and so they started launching ranged attacks at them, since their methods of transportation had been damaged. Luckily for Azula, this damage was not beyond repair, but it would hamper them significantly, and she knew that Aang—and even Xilingshi—were going to get away.

Aang's sudden burst of power left him exhausted, and he had collapsed in front of Appa, Zuko, and Iroh. Iroh helped hoist him onto Appa's back, and there, the four of them made their retreat. Aang was not unconscious, and he soon sat up and looked around.

"You got 'em," Zuko laughed, indicating the wreckage of Air Warrior machinery

"But they're not through fighting," Iroh warned, "heads up!"

A huge flaming catapult bomb came screaming towards them, but Aang reacted quick enough to get his staff out and divert it into a nearby cliff, thus sealing the fate of the Air Warriors. The icy walls collapsed and buried some ships, and blocked others. There would be a while before Azula would be coming after any of them. Aang made a note of that.

"I didn't believe in getting my butt handed to me in my last life," he commented, "so what makes these bozos think that I was going to believe it this time around?"

Zuko and Iroh both chuckled, as Appa flew back to the Southern Water Tribe. The morale of the group was good, but now they had a few choices to make.

"So how did you pull off that stunt earlier?" Zuko asked, referring to Aang's burst of Avatar State where he had executed the deadly waterbending moves he had.

"I'm not sure," Aang shrugged, "it's just something that got triggered—that's all I understand about it, anyways. Really it doesn't make very much sense, as I've never done any real waterbending outside of the Avatar State."

"provided you can reach the allies there," Iroh added, "perhaps the Northern Water Tribe would be the place for you to go to learn more about waterbending."

"I can do that," Aang nodded, "but how will I know friend from foe?"

"I'll travel with you," Zuko offered, "I'm well-familiar with both Water Tribes. I'm actually a northerner myself. That's a long story though."

Zuko did bring up an interesting point, and Aang's eyes automatically wandered to the huge scar that Zuko had over his left eye and much of that side of his face. It was blue and frozen in appearance, and it did not look like he could open that eye. Surely there was a story to be told about how that happened. Burn wounds were one thing, but to freeze something that powerfully had to have been done in part by a merciless master of bending.

"So what about you, Iroh?" Aang asked, "are you going to come with us too?"

"I am afraid that I cannot," Iroh replied, "for I have too much business among the Southern Water Tribe for me to leave at this moment. I believe that Zuko can keep a close eye on you, however, and that his skills combined with yours will keep the two of you safe."

Both Zuko and Aang nodded.

"So I suppose that we let you off here," Aang asked, referring to the Southern Water Tribe, which they were now approaching, and Iroh nodded. There was the exchange of a few words of wisdom, some goodbyes (mostly between Zuko and Iroh) and then Aang and Zuko were both black off and into the night sky. Zuko was too tired to worry about where Aang was taking him for now, as one could certainly not make the entire trip across the world in a night. The wounds he had received from the war, and most notably, Azula, still hurt enough that he kicked back and fell asleep.

* * *

_site of Azula's Wreckage; evening_

Using powerful blasts of air and firepowered machinery that were on some of the surviving ships, Azula and her crew were able to cut and dig their way out of the mess they were in. however, it was clear that even if they were to get her airship back into the air, there were a lot of repairs that would have to be done to get it back working normally again.

"One thing we've learned from this," Azula told her crew, "is never—EVER—underestimate the Avatar."


	8. The Southern Air Temple Part 1

AUTHOR'S NOTES—enter Toph. Her role is a bit dodgy throughout the series, but she plays a very important role in this series in particular. Don't be fooled just because she's not blind.

ALSO—epic fail to me for not noticing that I hadn't removed the excess formatting. =P

AVATAR: THE LAST FIREBENDER

BOOK 1: WATER

CHAPTER 3-1: THE SOUTHERN AIR TEMPLE, PART 1

_skies between the Southern Water Tribe and Southern Air Temple; morning_

Zuko mostly slept during the voyage to the Southern Air Temple. It was not the first time he had left home, or the first time he had left his uncle either. His own family was still all off in various places, and so to move around again was not much to him. When they landed, Aang, figuring that a little practical joke never did much harm, slipped a spider down Zuko's back.

He woke up no less than 2 seconds later, slamming his hand onto his back.

"You can nudge me next time," he advised Aang, "it works just as effectively."

"either way," Aang replied, jumping to the ground, "we're here."

"I could tell," Zuko frowned, jumping down and landing next to Aang. He looked around, and could tell that what they were going to find here was not going to be a pretty sight. For that matter, it did not seem like they would find anything, and that was the problem—the place just seemed deserted. He also noted that he had little choice regarding where he wanted to go, for the only way to reach these Air Temples was to fly. That was a natural defensive advantage that these Air Warriors had had. According to the tales from the Water Tribe, the only reason the Southern Air Nomads were killed off was because they were believed to be hiding the avatar, and because as pacifists, they did not fight by default.

Aang, having been in suspended animation for the last 100 years, was unaware of the fate that had befallen the Southern Air Temple, however, and so out of curiosity, he called out for anyone. His first few attempts produced no results, but after the 4th time, they heard a rustling movement.

"Show yourself," Zuko demanded, and naturally, there was silence. Aang, who was originally about to ask Zuko not to use such sternness towards what he thought was one of his people, but the fact that the source of the rustling did not reveal itself roused his suspicions as well. They both waited in silence for a moment before Zuko brought out a water whip and lashed it in the direction of the rustling.

A young black-haired woman clad in green tumbled out and landed face down in front of them, soaking wet. She got up and glared at both of them, particularly Zuko. She identified him as the one who had thrown the water since he was the one clad in blue.

"Do you attack anything that moves?" she scorned, "or is it just reflex?"

"Sorry," Zuko scratched the back of his head, using bending to pull the water out of the young woman's soaking clothes, "I thought you were an enemy."

"An enemy to what," she snapped. If her clothes were any indicator, she was clearly from the Earth Kingdom. "the Air Warrior Confederation?"

"No," Zuko countered, "more like an Air Warrior yourself."

"Hey," she replied, shaking her head and letting her bangs fall back in her face, "I'm not the one travelling with an airbender."

"I'm no Air Warrior either," Aang stepped up, "my name's Aang, and this is where I used to live."

The girl frowned. "You used to live here, Twinkle Toes?" she raised an eyebrow and glanced around, "where? This place has been abandoned for ages."

There was a moment of awkward silence, and then the girl spoke again.

"By the way," she continued, "name's Toph. What's your name, Ike?"

She snapped her head in Zuko's direction.

"Zuko," Zuko answered bluntly, not wanting this girl to get the best of him. "so what are you doing here if this place is abandoned?"

"Same thing everyone who's still here is," Toph replied, "staying out of the reach of the Air Warriors."

"Who exactly is 'everyone else'?" Aang asked, sounding excited at the prospect that this place may not be abandoned after all,

"Just a few airbenders, some Fire Nation refugees, and that sort of thing," Toph shrugged, "a lot of them also went to the Southern Water Tribe."

Now that sounded familiar to Zuko. He was used to several villages' worth of people being from one of the other nations. There was the occasional female Airbender that escaped from the Air Warrior Confederation, or was just able to evade them altogether, but most of them seemed bent on furthering their influence. The drive from the Eastern and Western Air Temples was so far proving effective.

Aang and Zuko nodded, and then Aang asked if she could take them to these refugees.

"Provided they're still around," she shrugged, "I've been flying solo for a while, and people come and go here enough that I don't keep track of them all."

"how do they get here?" Aang asked,

"Damn, you're behind the times or something," Toph rolled her eyes, "the Air Warriors tunneled through the mountains, then went under and up. That was how they were able to get their ground-based firepower to operate. Other than that, they were fierce enough and knew how to fly well enough to strike and win."

"They're not all dead though, are they?" Aang wondered,

"I don't think so," Toph replied as they made their way into the temple, "but I can't say I have any that are close enough to be called friends or whatnot."

Neither Zuko or Aang had very bright prospects of their tour of the Southern Air Temple. Aang pointed out a few things that were familiar to him as a child, but it also saddened him to see that most of them were deserted. During the tour, Toph periodically called out, but no one answered, even after she gave her name.

"Hmm," she frowned, though she did not even look back at Zuko and Aang, "maybe I was wrong."

"I'm going to have a closer look around," Aang declared, whipping out his glider. He took to the skies, leaving Zuko and Toph alone together.

"I'm pretty sure that there's no more Air Nomads proper here," Toph told Zuko, "I've been here long enough that I've scoured every nook and cranny of the place that I can get to. There are a few Air Warriors here, but they're very few and in between."

Zuko was half-inclined to punch Toph for biting his head off about being suspicious earlier. Nevertheless, he held his arm, and the two continued walking. Zuko was unsure if Toph felt it or not, but he felt that there was someone—or something—following them as they went down the next hall.


	9. The Southern Air Temple Part 2

AUTHOR'S NOTES—there are going to be times where the 4th wall gets broken or when future events get foreshadowed so blatantly that it's almost funny. Furthermore, there will be periodic Legend of Korra references throughout this series.

Also, don't think I've left out Azula and/or Zhao. I haven't. ;)

AVATAR: THE LAST FIREBENDER

BOOK 1: WATER

CHAPTER 3-2: THE SOUTHERN AIR TEMPLE, PART 2

_chambers of the Southern Air Temple; midday_

Toph led Zuko to a central sanctuary, where there was a door with an elaborate swirling-shaped pipelike device in front of them. When Zuko gave it a second glance, he noticed it looked like one variation of an Air Nomad Emblem. Toph noticed his curiosity.

"Apparently you used to have to use airbending to open it," she replied, kicking the in a lower corner and then opening it to reveal darkness in front of them, "but the Air Warriors abused it so much that I think it broke a while back. Then for some reason they stopped worrying about what was in here, and so a lot of refugees hid here for a while. I knew a few even."

Toph pushed the door open a little further, to let some light into the chamber. Once inside, she and Zuko were surrounded by numerous hosts—or so they thought. A second glance simply indicated that they were statues, motionless and dormant like the temple around them.

"It's an Avatar chamber," Zuko exclaimed, and he suddenly started looking for the end of the chain. Toph followed him, for she seemed to be looking for something similar. There was no end to the string of Avatars, but Toph stopped in front of one she recognized, which was next to an Air Nomad avatar that clearly was a statue of Aang.

"Avatar Roku of the Fire Nation," Toph nodded, closing her eyes. "I heard many good things about him. He was the avatar when the Air Warriors started attacking."

"So what started that war, exactly?" Zuko asked. The Water Tribes were the last nation to suffer attack, and their natural isolation from the majority of the rest of the world kept almost all but the diplomats unaware of the true status of the Fire Nation, or even the Air Nomads (though their information regarding the Air Warriors was kept well up-to-date, particularly through the many raids and assaults they pulled against the Tribes). News of things in the southern Earth Kingdom sometimes reached them, but apart from that, they knew little else other than that there was a group called the Air Warrior Confederation trying to take over their lands.

"I'm not sure either," Toph shrugged, "I was born 17 years ago, not 100. Either way, it's been a while since I've checked back with the Fire Nation. I wonder if there's anyone left."

"Are you from there?" Zuko asked her,

"In a way," Toph replied, and then changed the subject. She pointed to a statue of a Water Tribe avatar that stood next to the Aang statue.

"Hey, get this," she lightly punched Zuko's shoulder and showed him the statue, "Aang's gonna be a girl after he dies and comes back!"

Zuko looked at the statue next to Aang's. It was indeed a Water Tribe woman, and she looked not only tough, but also muscular. Zuko squeezed his own arm, as if he felt like this statue was a threat to his own manliness. Suddenly, however, they both stopped in their tracks, as a chirping noise was heard. Zuko froze, but Toph only remained still for a few seconds.

"Momo," she called out, and a lemurbat appeared from behind some of the statues.

"is that what's been following us," Zuko exclaimed, skeptical that that had been the producer of the noise he had heard a while back

"most likely," Toph shrugged.

"I've got half a mind to eat that thing," Zuko smirked, "life in the Water Tribe means you'll be eating a lot of meat—of several different kinds."

"Not Momo," Toph countered, but before they could get into an argument in that regard, something else happened that drove their minds off of the would-be argument completely.

The eyes of each and every statue all lit up, and soon the towering chamber was rank with glowing pairs of white lights. The Air Nomad avatars also had the arrows on their heads (and hands and feet, when applicable) light up. Zuko, recognizing the light as the same kind of light that emitted from Aang's eyes when he entered the Avatar State against Azula's ship, figured that it was the cause of it, and he raced out to find Aang. Toph, not wanting to be left behind, followed him.

He had calmed down by the time they found him. He had his head buried in his arms, and was kneeling in front of a skeleton of an Air Nomad. Neither one needed to ask whose it was, since they figured it was someone he had been very close in relationship to. Surrounding it were the skeletons of other Air Nomads. Some were male, and others female, and most of the female airbenders appeared decked out in warrior-like attire, though a few males were dressed similarly.

"This was your father, wasn't it?" Zuko took a wild guess at the skeleton Aang was kneeling in front of

"He was the closest thing I ever had to a father," Aang answered somberly, standing back up, "us being monks and all. I suppose I should have seen this coming, but it really hits home to know that they were killed by fellow Airbenders."

"While I can't say that I've had family and friends killed by my own people, I can at least say that you're not the only one that's lost something in this war. I'm no expert at comfort or anything, but you should at least know that the Southern Water Tribe is your ally."

"You're definitely not the only one who's lost something to this war," Toph added, "but Ike here is right—and frankly, as long as you're willing to put up with my cracks, consider me your ally as well."

These words comforted Aang enough for the time being, and soon the three of them, along with Momo, had decided to continue their journey northward, as they flew off into the night.

What they didn't know was that miles away, avatar statues in the temples of the Water, Tribe, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, and Air Temples had glowed in the same way that the ones in the Southern Air Temple had. When the Air Warriors of the Eastern and Western Air Temples noticed it, they sped off towards the leader of their operations with the news.


	10. Old Friendly Rivalries

AUTHOR'S NOTES— and enter Zhao. I would have called this one "Southern Air Temple, Part 3", but there really is no Southern Air Temple at all in this chapter. So, this is what you get with my miserable title skills.

AVATAR: THE LAST FIREBENDER

BOOK 1: WATER

CHAPTER 3-3: OLD FRIENDLY RIVALRIES

_Coast of Southwestern Earth Kingdom, afternoon_

Azula and her company docked their ship at an Air Warrior controlled port a couple days later. The going was slow because of the heavy damage that their ships sustained, and the morale in Azula's company was pretty low. However, this changed soon as she saw a Water Tribe ship docked in the harbor. Azula recognized it, and she smirked. One of her associates asked her what it was.

"It looks like we'll be running into our friend from the north," Azula smirked in response, "we'll dock here while we organize repairs and costs."

Azula's fleet landed in the harbor, and just as she expected, there was a Water Tribe man that signaled to her as they landed. Azula glided down to meet him, figuring her troops would take care of the rest of the landing operations.

"Chief Zhao," Azula smirked, "it's good to catch up with you again."

Zhao, the Water Tribe man, grinned in response, but also seemed to be surveying Azula's fleet.

"What happened to you?" he laughed, "your fleet got ravaged!"

"If it weren't for the knowledge I obtained from the matter," Azula replied, keeping her cool, "it would have been infuriating."

Despite her fury towards Xilingshi, the Avatar, and her brother and uncle, Azula kept her calm surprisingly well. Zhao seemed interested in what Azula was about to say.

"I crossed paths with the avatar," she told him, "and I figured that since I ran into you, that we could turn this into a little game—what would you think of that?"

"What are the parameters of this game?"

"For glory, really; the victor is the one who first captures and defeats the avatar. Do not let his age and size fool you—my band of idiots learned that the hard way."

"You know," Zhao noted, again eyeing Azula's damaged ships, "I could leave you in the dust completely if I wished to take your offer of pursuing the Avatar. I know exactly where you were over the last few days, and your information in regards to the Avatar was really all I needed."

"But would you really do that to little me?" Azula cooed, sliding up to Zhao. While Zhao was at least twice Azula's age, he admitted in his mind that the 18-year-old definitely had some charm. This was more because he knew Azula and how he operated, and he knew that she was playing one of her games, and that he had taken her bait, hook, line, and sinker. Besides, he saw little threat in a 16-year-old boy, Avatar or not. He figured there were just some parts of the story that Azula did not share, and although he was right, it was not the parts he thought they were.

"Then let us have a duel over it," Zhao suggested, "just a friendly spar. Surely an airbending prodigy such as yourself could beat an old man like me. If you win, my crew and I will wait a day or two for you to make your repairs. If not, we leave without you."

It was not so much Zhao's eagerness to risk being bested by a teenager as much as it was his indifference to Azula's goal of defeating the avatar. His alliance with the Air Warriors was not so much because of their ambitions, but rather, it was because they were winning this war.

"I'd love to," Azula agreed, her smirk widening, "when and where?"

"The arena at sunset," Zhao replied, pointing off behind him towards a large stadium. "in the meantime you should probably arrange your ships to be repaired. Even if you do win, I'll only wait so long."

"of course," Azula agreed, and that was that.

* * *

_the arena, sunset_

News of Zhao and Azula's duel caught the interest of soldiers from both crews, and so Water Tribe warriors and airbender women crowded the sidelines to see how it would end up. A few of them even made bets on the outcome as Zhao and Azula took their stances.

"Fight with honor and accept defeat with grace," the officiator told them, and the gong sounded. Azula wasted no time in launching attacks. Zhao used several slow but effective waterbending defenses against Azula's deadly air slices, but it was clear that she was pressing her attacks, and this caused him to continue stepping backwards. Zhao brought up huge tendrils of water to block the aerial attacks. This proved dangerous, as some of the airbending moves had enough kick to them to distort some of Zhao's water.

Azula continued her attacks, jumping and launching herself repeatedly at Zhao, diverting his attacks in the process. Zhao suddenly countered this objective by redirecting one of his diverted attacks back at Azula, and so soon Zhao had the upper edge.

Time passed, and Azula defended swiftly, so Zhao cranked up the power and energy he put into his moves. Whips of water and discs of air were exchanging places, and even a little blood from both Azula and Zhao was drawn. Zhao nearly knocked Azula over, but she caught herself mid-fall and flipped onto her hands and launched a spinning kick towards Zhao's face that knocked him down. Seconds later, Zhao found his face directly in front of Azula's fist. He was at her mercy.

"Very well," Zhao shrugged as Azula stepped back and let him up, "you've got three days."

"You've got less than three seconds," she warned and threw an attack at him directly after her statement. This was not an attempt at a sucker attack—just a test of Zhao's reflexes. Zhao blocked it and crossed his arms, smirking.

"You really do play games with all your allies, don't you?" he laughed,

"That's one way to put it," Azula replied coyly, "but there is a bit more I should share with you in regards to the avatar and his company. They are heading northward, most likely to your tribe. Chief Iroh was with him up until"

"That's what I needed to know," Zhao nodded, "I'll even help you hook up some repairs for sharing that piece of information."

Zhao was the chief of the Northern Water Tribe, while Iroh was the chief of the Southern Water Tribe. Azula smirked as she returned to her ship. Gaining allies for her seemed ever so easy.


	11. The Warriors of Kyoshi Part 1

AUTHOR'S NOTES— We all know that all-seriousness is boring. That was part of Shamalamadingdong's unforgivable sin. Also, it seems like Toph's got a few Fire Nation souvenirs. Also, apologies for the delay.

AVATAR: THE LAST FIREBENDER

BOOK 1: WATER

CHAPTER 4-1: THE WARRIORS OF KYOSHI, PART 1

_skies between the Southern Air Temple and Kyoshi Island; afternoon_

Flying over the next while proved to be relatively uneventful. Recent storms, narrow evasion of Air Warrior navies, and lack of knowing where their destination was had thrown Aang, Toph, and Zuko all out of balance. They had recently run into a group of Air Warriors, and so another battle was under way. The hardest part about fighting the Air Warriors was their absurdly swift speed. If they lost their speed, their low strength and attack power usually helped Zuko, Aang, and Toph bring them down. Pointed weapons, such as Toph's swords and Zuko's spears, proved effective against their war balloons, however, and Toph took the last balloon down by lunging towards it and slashing it. Once it started falling, Toph lunged back as Aang piloted Appa to get below her so that she would not freefall to her death. Zuko caught her by the hand and helped her back up. Except for a few scratches though, none of them were injured.

"All in a day's work," Zuko shrugged, kicking back. Air Warriors usually dominated the skies, and so running into small scuffles like this was not a rare occasion. Many rouge airbenders would often ambush land travellers by dive-bombing them. Even ships sometimes fell victim to this. The sole dominance of such a powerful medium such as the sky continued to keep the air benders ahead of the other nations in battle terms.

"You know," Toph idly commented as she rummaged through her bag for some things, "taking into consideration all of this random crap that's been happening over the last couple days, I'm up for landing somewhere and taking a break."

From where Aang sat, Toph looked like a dodgy figure, what with her dark green clothes, and her hat tipped to conceal her face. The only parts of Toph's body that were exposed were her hands and head.

"Where at?" Aang raised an eyebrow, turning around indicating the water below them, "the water?"

His tone was a little more sarcastic than Toph liked.

"No, stupid," Toph snapped, "the next piece of land we hit."

"I like that idea, come to think of it," Zuko chipped in, "those damn airbenders took a lot out of me."

Aang was not offended by Zuko's remark because he knew which airbenders he was referring to.

"Well," Aang asked, "do you know where the nearest mass of land is? I've been going in circles I think."

"Well," Toph remarked, sliding her trousers off in order to sew a large hole in them up, "chances are if you keep going north you'll hit something. That Earth Kingdom continent isn't exactly small, you know."

"I thought that's what I was doing," Aang shrugged,

"I think you were more northwest," Toph remarked as she started sewing her trousers, "but maybe Ike here knows a little more about navigation than I do."

Aang turned to Zuko, and Zuko nodded that Toph was right. They were heading a bit too far to the northwest, and so Aang diverted their course more towards the east to get back on track.

"What's this," Zuko joked, "you mean you DON'T know everything, Toph?"

"Nah," Toph shrugged, crossing her legs, "but we keep going the way we were and we would have hit the Fire Nation."

When Toph had crossed her legs, Zuko noticed a Fire Nation emblem tattooed on Toph's right leg. He asked her about it, and even Aang's head turned when he heard the words 'Fire Nation'.

"It's just a souvenir, if anything," Toph explained, "I've also got one on my arm."

She pulled up her left sleeve to reveal another Fire Nation emblem, and then pulled it back down to hide it again.

"I thought the Fire Nation was gone," Zuko wondered,

"Not entirely," Toph explained, "just the Firebenders are gone. There are still a few civilians here and there, but they're ruled by the Air Warriors. Most of them still cling to their old culture though, and I don't think that aspect will ever die down."

Aang frowned. He knew that he would eventually have to find a firebending teacher, but if they were all gone, what would he do then? He seemed deep in thought, but he was also now paying more attention to where they were going.

A few uneventful hours later, Aang pointed out a small-sized island, where they landed. Zuko and Aang jumped out and begin surveying the area. Toph joined them a few moments later once she had finished sewing up her trousers and had put them on.

"So are we just resting here?" she asked Aang, "or is there some sort of ancient legend of some giant massive beast that eats Earth Kingdomers?"

"Well," Aang raised an eyebrow, "now that you mention it…"

Seconds later, a massive eel-like creature jumped out of the water and then disappeared again below the depths. Toph jumped back, but Aang and Zuko both laughed.

"The Unagi doesn't explicitly eat people," Aang chuckled, using the name of the beast, "but you've gotta be careful when you're treading these waters."

"I ain't treading any water anyways," Toph spat, "not when there's creatures like Chuck the Magic Dragon swimming around."

"So where are we, exactly?" Zuko looked at Aang, "think there's any civilization more inland?"

"Most likely," Aang nodded as the trio started pushing their way into the island, "I think we're pretty close to Kyoshi Island if anything."

Toph's eyes shot open. "you mean this island is inhabited with those painted warrior-"

"TOPH!"

"…s that hold their allegiance to the Air Warriors?"

"The Kyoshi Warriors are enemies too now?" Aang raised an eyebrow.

"They were part of the force that was stamping faces across the coasts of the Fire Nation and southwest Earth Kingdom," Toph replied, "but apart form that, maybe not all of them are necessarily evil just because a few joined the airbenders."

"It's a good idea never to underestimate the Kyoshi Warriors," said a voice from the surrounding trees, "and it is definitely a wise idea NOT to insult them, earthbender."

Toph, Aang, and Zuko froze and looked up and around, but were too slow to react towards the swarm of warriors that overtook them. Within seconds, all three had been knocked unconscious.


	12. The Warriors of Kyoshi Part 2

AUTHOR'S NOTES— Enter the cryptic Suki, age 25. Also note that the Kyoshi Warriors are in their early-late 20s, and there are much more of them. In other words, they're an actual threat and a fighting force, instead of a few Mary Sue teenagers.

AVATAR: THE LAST FIREBENDER

BOOK 1: WATER

CHAPTER 4-2: THE WARRIORS OF KYOSHI, PART 2

_Kyoshi Island; late afternoon_

Zuko came back to consciousness only to find himself tied to a large tree, next to Toph, who was next to Aang. Toph appeared to still be asleep or unconscious, but Aang was speaking with the Kyoshi Warriors. They apparently knew he was the Avatar, and seemed pleased by his presence if anything.

"Avatar Kyoshi smiles upon you, Avatar," one of the warriors stated, and with a swift, fell move, Aang's bonds were cut. At once he turned around and asked them to free Zuko, explaining that he was his friend.

"That appeal can be granted," a Kyoshi Warrior nodded, and his bonds too were cut. This woman appeared to be the leader of their clan.

"So tell me," she continued, "who's this Earth Kingdom vagabond you've got with you? Is she your friend too?"

Aang shrugged. He was honest by nature, and he was not sure how much he exactly trusted Toph just yet. Nevertheless, he explained that she too was traveling with him.

"Name's Suki," the woman nodded as she sliced Toph's bonds as well. Needless to say, this woke Toph up with a start. "Welcome to Kyoshi Island. Don't wander too far, or you might get eaten.

"Hold it," Toph exclaimed, "You're Chuck's owner?"

"Chuck?"

"That huge dragon-eel thing that tried to eat me; I christened him 'Chuck'—short for Chuck the Magic Dragon."

"Then yes, I am his owner," Suki lied, "so watch your step, earthbender."

"Or what," Toph challenged, ignoring Zuko and Aang's gestures to try and get her to shut up, "are you going to put makeup all over my face too?"

"You were told that it was not a wise idea to insult the Kyoshi Warriors," Suki warned, and six Kyoshi Warriors stepped up, "especially if you cannot prove your own worth against them."

"I'll take on the whole lot of you," Toph leered, drawing her swords, "this game's mine."

Zuko smacked his face with the palm of his hand, and then Toph started swinging her blades as metal clashed with metal. Toph used no bending, but at least two of the Kyoshi Warriors were earthbenders. Toph's speed served her well in combat, her nimbleness from not being encumbered in heavy gear giving her extra speed, but the Kyoshi Warriors' armor gave them an edge on defense. Toph's skill with her dual swords showed through her movements and skill at blocking incoming attacks, but a teenager surrounded by six adults was bound to cave eventually. Soon enough, Toph was overwhelmed with the forces that were attacking her, and she was knocked unconscious. Suki and the others smirked.

"Sorry you had to see that," she confessed to Aang, "but she made the challenge. She's not dead or anything. She'll be back around in a couple hours or so."

Aang and Zuko both said nothing, but Zuko raised an eyebrow towards Suki.

"What do you want with her?" he asked curiously,

"We were just going to help her get well faster," Suki replied, "and teach her a thing or two about humility. In the meantime though, make yourselves at home. Welcome to Kyoshi Island."

_Kyoshi Island, Evening_

Toph woke up to find herself wearing what she deducted was a Kyoshi Warrior's outfit. She groggily glanced around and stood up.

"Damn it," she swore, "they got me." She then called out. Incidentally, Suki was the one to answer her call.

"What's the big idea," she asked, referring to her change of attire,

"Well," Suki explained, "you would actually make a very good Kyoshi Warrior. The fact that you held your ground against six of us means you definitely have what it takes—and we generally are not very open to outsiders, especially from the Fire Nation."

"Wait," Toph exclaimed, "What makes think—" but then she realized that they had probably seen her Fire Nation insignia tattoos on her arm and leg.

"So what sort of grudges do you hold against a nation living in shambles," Toph asked,

"Nothing at all," Suki replied, "but supporters of the Fire Nation, as well as followers of the Water Tribes are an enemy to the Air Warrior confederation. Air is the element of freedom. Just be glad you are not a Firebender—they were the first targets."

"Whose side are you on," Toph narrowed her eyes,

"I'm on the side that gives me the most benefits, as well as the side that keeps this island safe." Suki replied, "And so if you stick around here, you'll be able to share in the safety and hospitality that this island offersp—including the secrets of the Kyoshi Warriors. I am not your enemy, Toph. The only reason I and my warriors challenged you in the first place was because of your arrogance."

Toph did not have a reply for this. She remained silent, and then turned to Suki.

"So," she closed her eyes, "if I stay here, you're going to teach me the ways of the Kyoshis, and if I leave, I get fed to Chuck the Magic Dragon?"

Suki laughed, "I can't make that choice," she answered, "but I also can't make your decisions for you, Toph. "Chuck" isn't going to eat you if you try and leave. Just remember my offer though—it still stands."

"What about my friends," Toph asked,

"What about them?" Suki laughed, "it's not like you're joined at the hip are you?"

Toph remained silent for a moment and then stood up, offering her hand to Suki.

"I'll take your offer," she declared.

"Perfect," Suki smirked, "you've definitely got potential, Toph."

Suki's lessons taught Toph many lessons in speed, power, and counterattacking, which were more effective in the dark of the evening sky. Suki even went over the moves that were used to take Toph down initially, and how to block them. Toph was appreciative of the lessons, though she wondered what had happened to her other clothes—all she had seen in the room she had woken up in was her bag of other belongings.

It was well past midnight when they finally stopped. By this time, Toph had forgotten all about Aang and Zuko, but that was mostly because her mind was dwelling on different issues and concerns. For one, this seemed almost like a setup. Toph was unsure whether the Kyoshi Warriors were hostile or not, as they were very enigmatic about their words, apart from their pride. They were hospitable, albeit cocky so far, but who was to say that they would always remain that way? Or perhaps was she just being paranoid?


	13. The Warriors of Kyoshi Part 3

AUTHOR'S NOTES—the plot suddenly thickens…

…or does it? Also, a little of Toph's mysterious backstory gets shared.

Oh, and sorry for the long delay. You know… holidays, New Years, laziness; all that jazz

* * *

AVATAR: THE LAST FIREBENDER

BOOK 1: WATER

CHAPTER 4-3: THE WARRIORS OF KYOSHI, PART 3

_Kyoshi Island; late afternoon a couple days later_

While Toph was being taught by Suki and the other Kyoshi warriors, Aang and Zukko found that they were being followed and lauded by many of the townspeople, particularly the young women. The friendliness of the citizens as well as the respect they had for the Avatar got to Aang and Zuko's heads, and neither of them was keen on leaving any time soon. Luckily, this also played out well for Toph, as that meant that she could receive more Kyoshi Warrior training. When Toph told Aang and Zuko that this was what she was up to, she found that both of them approved.

"So your cracks about the Kyoshis are over now, huh?" Zuko joked;

"The only way any of my cracks will disappear completely is if I snuff it," Toph replied, "otherwise they're doomed to stay."

"At least you're getting along with them better now," Aang smiled

"Yeah," Toph smirked, "they're a pretty interesting group—definitely mysterious too. That's my side of the story though—so what's yours?"

"I can't say I've done much in the way of things constructive," Zuko laughed, "I've mostly just been enjoying the hospitality of the townspeople."

"Have any of you noticed the amount of Airbender influence here though?" Toph wondered aloud, "now, before either of you jump down my throat, I'm only saying this because I see it—I am not trying to accuse anyone here."

"Oh yeah," Aang smiled, "I noticed it. It's a nice combination, I think. Technically, Avatar Kyoshi was an airbender as well, being the avatar and all."

"Was she this secretive though?" Toph raised an eyebrow;

"Enough with the whole secretive thing, Toph," Zuko sighed, "perhaps you should loosen up a little and enjoy the place. I think your pride is still hurt from being forced into that dress and make-up. Either way, it doesn't look half-bad on you."

Toph sat down, still decked out in her Kyoshi gear, and Momo, who had been with Aang and Zuko during Toph's training, jumped onto Toph's shoulder. Perhaps she was being paranoid. Her life had been a long series of chases and hunts, so she was not exactly trusting of people, nor was she very open about her own doings. Maybe this was why Aang and Zuko shrugged her off—was she being hypocritical?

Aang trusted Zuko more than Toph, and Zuko's words seemed to hold more comfort. Suki had not wronged him or Zuko—just Toph, and only because of Toph's arrogance. He and Zuko had clearly seen that there was a prideful streak among these warriors, and he respected that—just like he wore his Air Nomad Insignia with pride. This insignia, which covered most of the front surface of Aang's shirt, was worn by airbenders who were not part of the Air Warrior Confederation in order to differentiate friend from foe. Most of its wearers were male airbenders from the Northern Air Temple and perhaps a few aged survivors from the Southern Air Temple massacre many years ago.

Zuko was certainly not lying to Aang, or even keeping something secret. Toph had her secrets, and he could deal with that for the most part as well. However, being surrounded by openly friendly and generous people made it difficult for Aang to think there was any conspiracy here. Besides, he knew that not all people who professed to be or supported the Air Warriors were inherently evil.

* * *

_Air-Warrior-controlled Earth Kingdom port; afternoon_

Word of the Avatar's appearance at Kyoshi island spread swiftly with the wind, and soon it reached the ears of Azula and Zhao. By this time, the necessary repairs had been made to Azula's ship and fleet, and so she and the Water Chief were ready to set sail. With the knowledge of where their target was, they also knew where to go.

"the race is on then," Zhao smirked, glancing over at Azula.

"Don't attack the Kyoshi Warriors unless they defend him," Azula instructed in return, though she was also grinning, "assuming that he does not decide to push off all of their hospitality, he should still be there by the time we arrive and strike."

Zhao nodded, and soon his small Water Tribe fleet, as well as Azula's Air Warrior fleet, took off southward. They were going to pay their old friend Suki a visit.

* * *

_Kyoshi Island; evening_

Toph was bothered by several things at this point, one of them being that she did not have her original clothes anymore. She was unsure what the Kyoshi Warriors had done with them or what their reasons were, but that could not be helped. Whatever the case was, she was sleepless that night, and so she got up and took a walk. Despite all of her heavy gear, her life of being chased and hunted had led her to remain light on her feet, and it seemed that these uniforms were not as loud when moving as they looked.

The island was quiet in the evening, and was lit only by the occasional torch near a street, or by the light of the moon glancing off of the ocean. Toph wondered, this time entirely out of curiosity, where the Kyoshi Warriors were. She had shelved her suspicions for now, and was just going on a walk. She had no intentions of trying to find something to get mad at Suki or anyone else for—she was simply unable to get to sleep, and so she wanted to take a walk. However, normalcy was not at all in Toph's job description, and the things she overheard could not be unheard.

"So, word is it that Azula's ships are back in working order?"

"Aye; she and Chief Zhao are on their way here right now."

"Do you expect they'll attack us?"

"Azula certainly will try not to—even she knows that expending allies like that is only going to get her a lot of enemies and very little actually accomplished."

"Suki knows where the Avatar is, and she will hand-deliver him to Azula. Hopefully the operation goes through—otherwise Suki will get a little more than a simple knock on the head to put her out of the game."

Toph could not see the source of the noise, and she had frozen when she first heard it. She could not tell who it was that was talking, but most of the voices were female, and were too far away for her to be able to distinguish them. At least one of them sounded like Suki's, but even if it was her, Toph had no proof of anything. Perhaps it was someone trying to capture Suki and impersonate her. Whatever the case was, she needed to at least let Aang and Zuko know what she had heard, and so she turned to head back to their place of lodging.


	14. The Warriors of Kyoshi Part 4

AUTHOR'S NOTES—and now my chapters will be slightly longer [only by a few hundred words]. Also note that the only reason I split up chapters so much is because if I wrote it all at one time, I'd (a) never get anything done, and (b) would have like 20 pages for each chapter, and that's TL;DR.

AVATAR: THE LAST FIREBENDER

BOOK 1: WATER

CHAPTER 4-4: THE WARRIORS OF KYOSHI, PART 4

_Kyoshi Island; morning_

Aang and Zuko were surprised to find that Toph was missing the next morning. Both the airbender and the waterbender could hear rummaging and shuffling noises around them, but they were both a bit tired from the previous night. After a few moments needed to regain their vision, they looked around. Their lodgings were deserted except for the two of them, but outside, it seemed that the Kyoshi Warriors were mobilizing.

"What's going on?" Aang asked, racing outside and asking the nearest warrior.

"We've got a Water Tribe raid," the Kyoshi replied, "they're looking for you."

Aang's expression turned into a wide-eyed, open-jawed gape. Zuko's nearly mimicked it except for his left eye.

"Water Tribe raid?" he exclaimed, "the only reason the Water Tribes would launch an attack would be to stop would-be invasions."

"These ones ain't from the south, sweetie," said Suki, who popped up behind them, "these are the northerners—Air Warrior allies."

"Damn it," Zuko swore, and then called out to Suki who was heading for the northwestern shores. "Hey! What happened to Toph?"

"She's a Kyoshi Warrior now, remember?" Suki chuckled, "she's probably somewhere in our ranks. You can take a look around for her, but don't expect much success during war—too many look-alikes; and Kyoshi Warriors do not converse while in combat."

Aang and Zuko decided to have a look around anyways, and as they were weaving their ways through the Kyoshi Warrior ranks, they finally realized just how many Kyoshi Warriors were nestled in the island. There were hundreds alone here, and who was to say that there were not any abroad?

"They've certainly gotten larger since I last saw any," Aang commented, referring to the size of the ranks, not the warriors themselves, "how are we going to find Toph in all this mess?"

"I think we'll have to worry about that later," Zuko warned, pointing to the ocean, "We've got Northerners landing."

It seemed that once the Air Warriors had raided the Fire Nation's metalworking miracles, the technology had spread to the other nations as well. While the Water Tribe ships were not as large as the Fire Nation armadas of old, they were fast and strong, with the waterbenders powering them rendering them to be swift and powerful. Aang's keen eyes noticed the man on the flagship—a burly, middle-aged, sideburned Water Tribe Warrior. Then again, most Water Tribe members were on the tougher side, so maybe it was just Aang's opinion.

"Do you know who that is?" Aang asked Zuko, thinking that Zuko had a little Water Tribe knowledge.

"Describe him to me." Zuko ordered, "I can't see that far; not even out of my good eye." Aang did just that.

"That sounds like Chief Zhao," Zuko frowned, "chief of the Northern Water Tribe. He's had connections with the Air Warriors for a while now."

"Are we going to fight him?"

"Not now; we can take on a few of his troops, but I would not go about challenging the Water Chief just yet. My uncle would have been a good match for him, but not me."

Aang took Zuko's words to heart, and he raced out into the fray. Zuko, not wanting to lose him, followed, and the two benders added their skills to the defense against Zhao's troops. The fighting continued for a while without anything unusual occurring until smoke was seen from the opposite end of the island. Either someone had chosen a really stupid time and place to start a campfire, or there was some active arson going on. To add to the matter, the Unagi had appeared and seemed to have sided with the waterbenders. It was spewing its own waves of water at the Kyoshi Warriors as well. Nevertheless, they were valiant defenders, not about to let a powerful sea creature stop them in their tracks either.

"I don't know about you," Zuko told Aang, "but I think I'd rather combat the fire than that thing."

"Uh, I think I agree with you," Aang shuddered, and the two of them raced eastward to find out what the source of the flames was.

It was not long before they found out. Toph was racing away from the inferno, and she was carrying a slip of paper. She was still decked in her Kyoshi getup, but it did not look like she had been fighting.

"Zuko, Aang," she panted, "These people are traitors!"

both Zuko and Aang stopped in their tracks, not really believing what Toph had said. Zuko asked her to repeat it.

"They're with the Air Warriors." She repeated again, and she showed them the sheet of paper she was carrying. On it was an illustration of an Air Warrior and a Kyoshi Warrior. Next to them was text that Zuko recognized.

_Kill by any means necessary_

_Win by any means necessary_

_Live by any means necessary_

_Die by any means necessary_

"The Air Warrior's slogan," Zuko exclaimed, "damn it! That explains a lot!"

"Die by any means necessary?" Toph raised an eyebrow.

"They refuse to be captured." Zuko answered, "and so if they are about to lose, they will try to end their lives by any means necessary."

"Looks like they're about to kill by any means necessary as well;" Toph frowned, "they're coming. Where the hell is Appa when you need him?"

"APPA!" Aang shouted, but all it did was make Momo fly upwards and around them, avoiding the fight.

"Damn it." Zuko swore. "You know, I think the universe is out to get us."

He turned to see a Kyoshi Warrior riding atop the Unagi, which was heading straight for them, launching a huge jet of water in the process. Zuko jumped forward and thrust his palm out. He was able to block the oncoming blast of water, and the radius was large enough that his friends were safe as well.

"I'll distract her," Toph offered, "Aang, get your little flyboy butt up there and pick her off!"

Aang did not need further motivation. Toph whipped out a bow and shot an arrow at the Kyoshi Warrior. Her lack of experience with this weapon showed, as it did little more than get the warrior to turn her head. That was all Aang needed, however, and he was able to dethrone the Kyoshi. He took control of the beast and turned its attention back at the Kyoshi Warriors. The enemy of his enemy was his friend for now, as he knew that the Air Warriors were out to get him. Perhaps the Water Tribe was just jumping in for the bounty—or perhaps they had some other motive.

"I take my remark about the universe back," Zuko frowned as Appa showed up and he and Toph jumped on. "The universe just likes screwing with me."

"Well, you are pretty fun to mess with, Ike." Toph chuckled. "still, let's get out of here while the going's good. We obviously know by now that the universe changes its mind quickly. Now just get twinkle toes to get off of Chuck and we'll be fine."

However, once the airbender saw Appa, he long-jumped off of the Unagi's head, whipped out his glider, and flew up towards Appa, landing next to Zuko.

"That went well." Aang remarked. Toph and Zuko frowned.

"You weren't captured by them," Toph shook her head. "You didn't get locked up for overhearing their conspiracy being planned."

"How'd you bust out?" Aang asked,

"I decided to use some awesomeness," Toph boasted, "but that's not the point. The point is that the Kyoshi Warriors have the Air Warriors' backs. I can't say I know about the waterbenders though."

"Well, we'll have to find out sooner or later," Zuko shrugged, "since we need to find Aang a waterbending teacher, and the south is too full of marauders."

"I need a vacation after this vacation," Toph sighed, flopping backwards.

Incidentally, Zuko was watching the Water Tribe warriors, and although a couple of them turned their shots towards the flying bison, most of them continued their attack on Kyoshi Island without worrying about him. They were well out of Zuko's sight by the time they withdrew, but it comforted him to know that they had some sort of other motive besides capturing the avatar.


	15. My Name Is Joo Dee

AUTHOR'S NOTES—and here's a brief Sokka and Katara interlude, partially because it might be a while before they both show up together. Also note that this is a flashback. In present times, Katara is 18 and Sokka is 19.

AVATAR: THE LAST FIREBENDER

BOOK 1: WATER

CHAPTER 5-1: MY NAME IS JOO DEE

_Omashu; midday; two years prior_

The Air Warriors made moving around a lot more difficult. Many of them were not even as vicious as they were made out to be, but the calm ones were, if anything, much more frustrating than the fierce ones. Omashu, which had long been informally occupied by Air Warrior forces, witnessed the behavior of these people firsthand. Most of them were female, but there was a good handful of male airbenders in their ranks. Those without bending abilities that wished to donate their skills to the Air Warrior Confederation were often recruited as warriors of some sort, and even Kyoshi Warriors joined their ranks.

Earthbenders were only picked out of their ranks when they were caught doing anything that resembled any kind of conspiring. Warriors and nonbenders were usually just watched under a much closer eye. Those that could fight would often be forcibly recruited if they misbehaved. When they confronted King Bumi about the matter, he told everyone, friend and foe alike, that he would do nothing. These actions (or lack thereof) were questioned by many, but there were at least two citizens in the city that had a little more understanding of what he was doing. Both looked older than they really were, and both were proud Earth Kingdom citizens.

"Sokka, it's really quite simple. He's waiting for the opportune moment to strike. As long as you don't go off acting like some idiot, we'll both be fine."

"Hey," Sokka shrugged, "you're the one that's most likely going to get carted off. If anything, I'll just be recruited as a warrior."

"You're saying you want to fight for them?"

"Now, now, don't go too fast. I never said such a thing. I'm just saying that you might want to lay low for a while. All of this running around you're doing is going to draw attention from the Air Empire."

"Why do you keep calling them that?"

"Katara, empires are evil; kingdoms are good. It's always been that way."

Katara frowned. "Since when have they been that way?" she narrowed her eyes and raised an eyebrow.

"It… it's an unwritten law!" Sokka stammered, "Since when have you ever heard of a good empire?"

Katara rolled her eyes. "Empire or not, they're called the Air Warrior Confederation. I've heard of people getting dragged off for conspiracy just by calling them an 'evil empire'."

"Hey, sometimes the truth needs to be told." Sokka shrugged, but Katara put a hand over his mouth.

"Yeah, but not in broad daylight, you idiot"

"Katara, dad left me in charge when he disappeared…"

"Sokka, he's not coming back."

"Katara! How could you say something like that!"

Katara hesitated for a second, and then pulled Sokka into an alleyway.

"All of my dodging around has given me information, Sokka." She whispered to him, "I don't do it for my good health, or even to hone my earthbending skills. I do it because it keeps me knowing what the Air Warriors are up to, and who they're working with and who they're working against."

"You have any idea about the Water Tribes?" Sokka asked, lowering his voice as well,

"Aye," Katara nodded, "the Southern Water Tribe is fully against them, and the Northern Water Tribe has a rocky relationship, so to speak. I wish I could get close enough to overhear them conversing with the Air Warriors. I'm almost certain I would be able to feel them lying."

"Katara," Sokka frowned, "that ability of yours is really creepy."

"I'm the greatest earthbender in the world," Katara crossed her arms, "I…"

"And so, you will be quite useful to us." A voice interrupted them. It was an airbender—a male, no less. The only surprise factor this generated was that they were so much rarer than the females that dotted the city.

Sokka immediately pulled out a boomerang, and Katara spread her legs apart, locking her feet in place, and took up an unusual earthbending stance.

"Don't you lay a finger on my sister," he threatened, pointing his boomerang at the airbender. However, the man just laughed.

"A warrior, are you?" he smiled, "you might be of some use too then. However, it is not you we are after. Give us the girl, and you can go off unharmed."

"us?" Sokka looked at the man skeptically. "Either way, there's no way you're taking my sister."

Katara's ear twitched. "fight now, talk later, Sokka! Look up!"

In an instant, there was a huge clash. Sokka's boomerang skill was top-notch, and his deadly speed and accuracy with the weapon had him disabling several flying airbenders. Katara's sheer power and skill with earthbending kept her well-defended, but the Air Warriors still has speed and the skies on their side. What they might have lacked in skill, they made up for in cooperative teamwork, as well as sheer numbers. Within minutes, Katara and Sokka were both unconscious, and Katara was taken by one of the airbenders, who flew off with her.

Sokka came to consciousness a few moments later.

"KATARA!" he bellowed, but the only person he could see was an airbender woman. She did not have the Air Nomad insignia on her shirt, so he knew that she was an Air Warrior.

"Your sister is gone," she said calmly as Sokka stood up, "and I suggest you say nothing regarding her disappearance if you ever want to see her or your parents again. You can even keep your little toys you carry."

Sokka contained the anger that was boiling up inside of him, and he did not respond. He reached down to his waist. His club and his boomerang were both still there. He was somewhat surprised that they had not taken them—they had made a huge mistake in not doing so. One 17-year-old nonbending warrior was no match for a slew of Air Warriors, but perhaps the old crazy king of the city had a point. Now was not the time to strike—now was the time to wait—wait and listen for the opportune moment to strike.

_Ba Sing Se, a few weeks later_

Katara found herself bound in an unknown chamber. Only a few small lights were visible, and Katara could not see the faces of her captors. Her stubbornness led her to refuse to give out any information regarding the knowledge she had about the war. She offered to let them kill her, since she knew she was not going to betray her friends, her family, or her nation.

"Do not think that the Air Warriors would stoop so low as to slaughter a 16-year-old girl, Joo Dee." A voice said from the darkness, "but we know enough about you to know what might get you to move this way or that. You will never see what hit you."

Katara blinked a few times, and struggled against the bonds that kept her mouth, hands, and feet from moving. She did realize that she was wearing different clothes—and that she had some kind of shoes on—they felt like they were made of rock. This put various types of ideas into Katara's head, but it seemed that her chi had been blocked. Something like that, anyways.

That was the last thing she remembered before a distinct set of monotonous words filled her head. The lights that were surrounding her were slowly growing dimmer, and her eyes started to hurt. They were doing something to her, but she could not tell what it was.

_Welcome to Ba Sing Se. My Name is Joo Dee._

Had Katara been to Ba Sing Se before, she would have immediately recognized what outfit she was wearing, and perhaps what had just happened to her.


	16. National Diplomacies

AUTHOR'S NOTES—halt rambleziet.

This episode will go down much differently than the one in the show. There will be a lot more storytelling/dialogue, particularly so people can come to understand how the Air Warriors rose to power and everything else. We might even catch a note about who this story's Big Bad is.

And DOMG SHIPPING! Well, not really. Anyone wondering who will wind up [paired] with who is in the same boat that I am. I ain't sure either. I can assure you all that there will be several different shipping moments of all kinds throughout the series though.

Also, there will be some light shed upon the relationship the Water Tribes have with the world—and a little bit about Zuko's backstory and where he came from.

So this is kind of a filler, but it has vital information about how the alternate universe makes sense.

AVATAR: THE LAST FIREBENDER

BOOK 1: WATER

CHAPTER 5-2: NATIONAL DIPLOMACIES

_Skies around Omashu, afternoon_

"So one thing's certain," Toph commented as they flew, "either the Northern Water Tribe has been smoking something really strong lately, or there's something about their relationship with the rest of the world that this warrior has no idea about."

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time, earthbender" Zuko joked, and Aang chuckled. Toph scowled.

"Who was the one that's been living in the Southern Water Tribe most of his life?" Toph countered, "Who is the one that was frozen in the iceberg for 100 years? Oh, that's right. And then there's me."

"Sorry Toph," Aang apologized, "it was only a joke—right, Zuko?"

"course," Zuko shrugged, "I just think your cute little ego could stand to be knocked down a peg, Toph; that's all."

"It is kind of shameless the way you two flirt," Aang laughed, and suddenly both Zuko's and Toph's face turned red. Even Zuko's blue scar took on a bit of different color, and the redness of Toph's face was visible behind her Kyoshi Warrior makeup.

"That…" Zuko stammered, scratching his head "was one of the last things I expected to hear from you, Aang. Either way, Toph actually had a point. Something is up in the Northern Water Tribe. Either there is some kind of rebellion going on behind Chief Zhao's back, or he's in on it."

Toph nodded. "the Water Tribes are technically the most powerful nation in the world now," she remarked, "they have a defense against the Air Warriors that the Air Warriors used against their enemies—they have the high ground, and the frigid climate plays rough against flying airbenders. Still, the fact that the Air Warriors are using Fire Nation technology has definitely given them an upper hand."

"The Water Tribes are by far the most mysterious of the Four Nations," Zuko warned, "I've lived and fought most of my life there, and I still don't even know half of their secrets. The Water Tribes are adevious people, with waterbenders always finding the path of least resistance. "

"Wait," Aang paused, "you told me once that you were a Northerner, and that it was a long story."

Zuko nodded. "you've got a good memory, avatar," he smirked, "but aye, I was and am a northerner by birth. My father was Sage Ozai, and my mother was Sister Ursa. She's with the Air Warriors."

"Whoa, hold up there, Ike." Toph put her hands up, "you're telling me that you're related to Ursa and Azula?"

Zuko nodded. "I haven't seen Ursa or Ozai for years." He explained, "Even Azula is different. She's angry all the time, and I don't know what it's about. I obviously can't ask her about it, since she's trying to kill me and all, but I get this feeling that she's not doing the things she is doing solely because she wants to."

"Oh, like that's a good motive for destroying all the firebenders," Toph rolled her eyes.

"I never said it was," Zuko objected, "all I was saying was that I think her own interests are being overshadowed by those of someone else. Surely you don't think all of the people fighting for the Air Warrior Confederation are bad, do you?"

"No," Toph replied, "just like all the firebenders that attacked the airbenders however many years ago were not all evil."

"exactly," Zuko agreed, " My family wasn't always as crazy as it is now, Toph."

"My family wasn't always dead like they are now," Toph shook her head, "but I think I did run into your mother once, Zuko."

"What happened to your family?" Aang asked, "for that matter, where are you from? You seem to have a certain fondness for the Fire Nation I've noticed."

"I'm from the west," Toph replied, "I've been slinking around the southwestern reaches of the world for a while now. I've been to most of the world—and that's how I know so much. As for the Fire Nation, I spent many years there. It's a beautiful place—and that's probably the one thing that I like about the Air Warriors. They've found cleaner ways to put the Fire Nation's technologies to use—they've kept it beautiful. That doesn't mean I forgive them for what they're doing, but at least they're not trying to violate everything that was left there."

Toph paused for a moment before sending a ball of spit out into the wind behind them.

"One of these days you two should go there if you haven't been there." She sighed, "I used to have a lot of friends there. It's a beautiful place that's warm all year round. Now with this war going on though, I doubt there's much of that anywhere. I wonder what things are like in the Earth Kingdom?"

"It would seem that they would have an edge against the Air Warriors," Zuko frowned, "but earthbenders are ground-bound. The world has learned from experience that it's much easier to drop things onto people than it is to toss things up at them."

"That's not the only thing the Air Warriors have to their advantage," Toph warned, "the way they were able to take over the Fire Nation was simple but effective. They learned how to compress and combust air like a bomb. There's a similar, more explosive move that some firebenders used to know. These "combustion airbenders" basically conducted bombing raids on their targets."

Both Zuko and Aang stared at Toph with flabbergasted expressions.

"They do what now?" Aang asked,

"They don't do it very often," Toph warned, "in their words, they usually only launch their bombing raids when they plan on making the nation fall. The Fire Nation hasn't been destroyed for very long."

"Well, it's still technically not destroyed," Zuko reminded her, "just the firebenders are all gone."

"Yeah," Toph shook her head, "and that includes the Fire Lord and Lady, the Fire Sages, and much of the Fire Nation military. So basically, just their culture lives on."

"In the words of my uncle, that's what keeps a nation going," Zuko advised, "it's not their military or their government, but their culture. Now, don't expect me to go into some sappy romantic spiel, 'coz I'm not going to. What I'm saying is, is that it is fully possible for the Fire Nation to come back."

"Yeah, I get it." Toph nodded, "still, I happened to be there when the last bastion of firebenders were exterminated. Lovely time to be taking a vacation, don't you think?"

"That's rough, buddy." Zuko frowned, putting his arm around Toph for the sole purpose of comforting her. While he was not sure what exactly she had seen or went through, he knew that it had to be traumatizing to have been at the scene of the downfall.

"Hey," said Aang, hoping to cheer things up, "that's why we're taking a better vacation, right?"

"If by that, you mean a vacataion where the inhabitants are not trying to kill us, then yes," said Toph, "we are."

"Well, we're coming right up to Omashu," Aang indicated, pointing to a large Earth Kingdom city." there might be a few Air Warriors here though, so let's be careful."

They landed a ways away from the main gate, and surveyed the city. There were definitely Air Warriors here, but if anything, they seemed to mostly be just minding their own business.


	17. The King of Omashu Part 1

AUTHOR'S NOTES—now the story continues... with comedy! Those of you who thought you could skip over the last two chapters; they're worth the read—assuming you wish to know about Sokka, Katara, and a little bit of background on Zuko and Toph's families.

Oh, and enter Cabbage Guy—and a tribute to Shamalamadingdong.

Also, forgive me for referencing an internet meme.

AVATAR: THE LAST FIREBENDER

BOOK 1: WATER

CHAPTER 5-3: THE KING OF OMASHU, PART 1

"So do you think we need to take any measures against the guards?" Toph asked, "Or do we get to simply waltz into Omashu."

"One does not simply walk into Omashu," Aang warned, "there's a gate and some guards from the looks of it, but getting past them should be a breeze."

They were not the only ones trying to get in though. As they approached the gate, they noticed a cabbage merchant who was halted, and his wares inspected.

"What's this, cabbages?" the guard exclaimed, "we only allow REAL food in Omashu—like pot roast… and beef jerky!"

With a stamp of his foot, he launched the cart of cabbages away and into the chasm below.

"MY CABBAGES!" was the last they heard of the merchant, and the three benders calmly approached the guards. The guards took a certain interest in Aang's shirt.

"You're a brave kid to be wearing something like that," they told him, indicating the airbender insignia on his shirt, "we don't see many true Air Nomads anymore these days."

"Surely Omashu hasn't sided with them, have they?" Zuko frowned.

"Some folks have," the guards warned, "but most of the Air Warriors here will leave you alone as long as you leave them alone or mention anything that even sounds like conspiracy. I do, however, have to ask you three your names."

"My name is Ong," Aang lied, swinging his arms slowly as if he was about to start dancing. Tophand the guard looked at him skeptically, but he caught Zuko's eye, and Zuko understood what Aang was doing.

"You'll have to excuse him," Zuko apologized, "he's not all there—hasn't been since the last raid he was in. Anyways, I am Zuko of the Southern Water Tribe, and this is Toph, a Western refugee."

"You might want to keep a close eye on your friend Ong then," the guards warned as they used bending to open the gates, "peple have gotten arrested for doing less."

"Got it," Zuko nodded, and the three entered the city. Once the guards closed the gates, Aang stopped swinging his arms, and regained his posture.

"So what the hell was that all about?" Toph raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't think I should go telling them that I was Aang. Ong was just the first name that came to my head. Don't ask how I came up with it."

"How did you come up with it," Toph smirked. Zuko smacked his forehead with his hand.

"I was kind of asking for that one, Zuko." Aang fake-sighed. "It was just a weird dream I had a couple nights ago, Toph. I dreamed I was with two waterbenders, one named K'Tarah, and the other named Sohka. They called me Ong. I still shudder when I think of it… there was so much ponytail…"

There was a moment of awkward silence, but then Aang continued.

"Hey, you asked," He remarked, "but anyways, look around you. What do you see?"

"I see a bunch of stone cars," Toph observed, "I take it you're hinting at something."

"Me and an old friend of mine named Bumi used to ride those things all the time. You can't say you've been to Omashu until you've ridden 'em too!"

"Uh, two things," Toph interjected.

"yeah?"

"first, who is Bumi, and was this guy as crazy as you are?"

Aang laughed. "ha, that'd be an understatement," he explained, "Bumi was insane; crazy—he was a mad genius, as I liked to call was also one of my best friends. He smelled like burnt mushrooms a lot. That… suddenly might explain a few things…"

"Oh, for some reason, I don't doubt that." Toph commented, rolling her eyes.

"So, what else did you want?"

"I've been racing at breakneck speeds before, and I've gotta tell you, it really doesn't do it for me."

She clutched her stomach, as if even the thought of racing through the wind at high speeds was about to make her feel sick.

"Oh, it's nothing like being on a glider, if that's what you're thinking." Aang reassured her, and then winked at Zuko. "though I'm not sure how you'd know that… Come on, it'll be fun!"

Toph tried turning to Zuko for support, but Zuko supported Aang's idea—to him it sounded like a good way to unwind, especially after the incidents at Kyoshi Island."

A few minutes later, they were racing down the mail chutes at breakneck speeds. Aang and Zuko were enjoying themselves, sometimes even waving their arms in the air and laughing. Toph looked positively green, and her eyes were out of focus.

"You know how you said it wouldn't be anything like gliding," Toph muttered groggily after their 5th ride, "well, you're right. It's faster, and its worse. Where are we, anyways?"

"We're at the top of the city." Aang laughed as Toph was helped into the car by Zuko. He seemed to take sick pleasure in getting his 'revenge' on "Little Miss Snarker".

The ride from here was the longest and fastest—as well as the most intense—one yet. Several chutes joined theirs, and sometimes they branched off in different directions. It was not considered intense until after a cart full of spears slid up right behind them. Toph, who was in the process of emptying the contents of her stomach behind them, only slickened the path and increased the spear cart's speed.

"Aang, got any ideas on how this will NOT end in imminent death for us?" Zuko asked,

"Just one," Aang replied, and he rocked the cart enough that they slid off, ramped over several houses, smashed a few things, and wound up coming to a stop after a precise and well-aimed collision with a cart of cabbage—which just so happened to belong to the same merchant they had seen earlier. Toph was still absolutely green, and now was also very dizzy.

Zuko glared at Aang as they were surrounded by the guards.

"Okay, so maybe this WASN'T a good idea." Aang confessed. Toph muttered something in a groggy tone that none of them could decipher, but it seemed like she agreed.

"Oh, come on, it can't be that bad," Aang reasoned with Zuko as they were led away. They were not told where they were going.

"2 silver pieces says it can." Zuko offered, and surprisingly, Aang took it.

They wound up in front of the king of the city.

"These youths were caught vandalizing the mail chute system." The guards explained, and the old king leaned forward and looked at the three of them.

"So," he said, "they went postal?" and Aang laughed. The guards frowned.

"I suppose that is one way to put it, sire." They replied.

"in that case, throw them…" the king declared,

"get your money ready," Zuko whispered.

"…a feast."

"A feast?"

"yes, a feast."

"Dammit." Zuko swore, as Aang poked Zuko's shoulder and grinned, his hand open for Zuko's silver pieces.


	18. The King of Omashu Part 2

AUTHOR'S NOTES— apologies for the hiatus. Also note that Toph is still in her Kyoshi getup.

Word of the elusive "Last Firebender" gets out. Yes, it is a woman, and yes, it MIGHT be an OC. However, that brings with it a HUGE risk of Mary-Suedom, (which is bad, and which I MIGHT poke fun at) and so I will not give any pointers regarding the firebender's identity except in the story itself.

On an unrelated note, 116 is a lucky number.

AVATAR: THE LAST FIREBENDER

BOOK 1: WATER

CHAPTER 5-4: THE KING OF OMASHU, PART 2

_Omashu, morning_

The feast that the king threw them was enjoyable indeed, and after a good night's sleep, they were brought forward again on the king's request. Aang recognized the crazy, lopsided grin as the same grin that his old friend Bumi had had, and so he recognized his old friend, and the two struck up conversation.

"Aang, you should know better," Bumi fake-chastised him, "freezing yourself in an iceberg is not a very good way to learn your world history."

"That's why I came to you, Bumi," Aang laughed, "tell me about the Four Nations. How is Omashu? What are the Air Warriors doing? Do you know of any good waterbending or earthbending teachers?"

"I can tell you a lot of things about The Four Nations," Bumi laughed, "but you have to ask correctly."

"Please?"

"Ah yes, The Four Nations. As you probably already know, there is very little left of the Fire Nation indeed. It continues to be the source of the metalwork the Air Warriors use, but there are no benders, and so any rebellions that may be planned are still under wraps."

Toph noticed that Bumi was casually playing with a tile of some sort as he spoke. She glanced at Aang and Zuko, but neither one seemed to notice.

"So do you know any firebenders?" Aang asked Bumi.

"Hold on, Aang. Let me finish talking about the Four Nations."

"Oh. Right."

"The Water Tribes are definitely the most confusing of the four," Bumi continued, "both tribes seem to hold an air of dislike towards the Air Warriors, but the Northern Water Tribe has taken some of my advice and kept their mind open to possibilities."

"Is it safe to travel there?" Aang and Zuko both asked, "I need a waterbending teacher."

"I believe you could get away with it," Bumi cackled, "but that would also depend on Chief Zhao's current mood of the week."

There was a slight pause before Bumi continued.

"The Air Nomads, as you probably already know, are mostly concentrated in the Northern Air Temple, and are staying out of the war. Those at the Southern Air Temple are gone, and the Eastern and Western Air Temples form an axis that cuts through the world and strengthens their grip upon it. It was that force from the sky that allowed them to run wild through Omashu."

"Are you going to do something about them?"

"I might just do that Aang, I might. But you keep changing the subject! How am I supposed to answer your questions when you keep going off the subject?"

"Oh right. Sorry."

"The Earth Kingdom, as you can see, is under attack in several different places they are winning in some, and losing in others. Here in Omashu they are about neutral. That should answer your question about the Four Nations. Now, what else did you wish to ask me?"

"About firebenders"

"Ah yes—firebenders. I might know of one, though I have not met them personally yet. You're very unlikely to have a firebender come walking up to you and identifying themselves though. I am almost certain that you will discover her in a place where you would least expect it."

"So you know who she is?" Aang asked, "And that it's a girl?"

"I said I might, Aang. For the sake of said firebender, however, I will have to leave it up to her to reveal herself should you cross paths with her."

"But there are thousands of people in the world! How in the world will I be able to pick one firebender out from all of them?"

"Oh, don't worry," Bumi smirked, "I'm pretty sure you'll hear of her soon enough. After all, it's hard for a bender of any sort to hide their abilities. That was what happened to Katara."

"Who's Katara?"

"She was a powerful earthbending master," Bumi grinned, "I even taught her a few things, and then she taught me some things! I thought she was crazy for a moment!"

"Bumi, I hate to say it, but I think you're the only crazy one in the situation."

"That was the same thought that came to my mind, Aang. Nevertheless, apparently the Air Warriors took interest in her, because I haven't seen her in two years. And now her brother's gone missing too, and people are disappearing left and right Aang. I think this place is craaaaazy!"

Aang smelled the burnt mushroom smell he remembered smelling around Bumi when they were children. "Bumi," he asked, "who was her brother?"

"Called himself Sokka, he did," Bumi grinned, "but now he ran off too. So sad…"

"So why are you telling me this?" Aang asked, "why do I need to care about Sokka or Katara?"

"Because Aang, sometimes the help you will need is not the help you seek. You need to understand that looking outside of the box and thinking instead like a mad genius, will benefit you greatly."

"So," Zuko commented, "would you care to explain that remark?"

"of course, young waterbender," Bumi cackled, "what I am saying is, is that sometimes the people you thought would be your allies turn out not to be, and people you think are insignificant and unimportant will become your best friends."

"So does that mean you're an enemy?" Aang asked, as Toph grabbed a ring from the table they were sitting at and slid it on.

"It depends on what you think I am an enemy to," Bumi answered, "it does mean that I obviously am not coming on your little Northern Water Tribe adventure, but as long as you don't turn on me, I don't think I'll be able to find a good reason to turn on you."

"so I take it you want us to find this Sokka and Katara?"

"Oh, that might be difficult," Bumi explained, "after all, finding one person in a world full of thousands can be difficult!"

"That's what I told you!" Aang argued,

"And it didn't bother me, because I was thinking like a mad genius," Bumi grinned, his smirk widening as Toph was fighting with a crystal that was covering her right arm. "while I am no Aunt Wu, I can let you know that you will find what you seek—it will not be the way you seek it, but you will find it if you listen to my advice, as crazy as it might be."

"Thanks," Aang smiled, and then his and Zuko's attention was diverted to Toph, who had a blue-green crystal covering her right arm from hand to shoulder."

"I see she found one of my Jemmonite Rings," Bumi cackled, "and that she's learned that it is tasty."

Toph was gnawing on the crystal on her arm, but there was too much of it for her to break it off. Bumi clenched his fist and the crystal shattered. Toph looked back up, her face turning pink beneath her Kyoshi Warrior makeup.

"Yeah, uhh…" Toph stammered, "I… uh… put it on and then… you saw the rest."

"I've got plenty more where that came from," Bumi laughed, "So don't you worry your little painted head over it. What you, the waterbender and the Kyoshi Warrior need to do now is get a good night's sleep tonight and then move on tomorrow. There is no reason to linger around here when there are Air Warriors everywhere."

"On one condition," Aang offered, "tomorrow morning we ride the mail chutes again just like old times."

"Thanks, I'll pass." Toph held up her hand. "I refuse to turn as green as my gear again."

"Suit yourself," Bumi shrugged, "you in for it, Ike?"

"Toph spoke to you last night, didn't she?"

"Is that a yes?"

Zuko found that this excursion was much like the other one. It ended in a near-death experience, which also involved another bet with Aang, which ended again with Zuko shelling out two silvers to Aang.


	19. Imprisoned Part 1

AUTHOR'S NOTES—this episode as a whole touches a lot more on Sokka and Katara, particularly in more recent times. The 'changes' that have happened to them (namely Katara) will be seen at a later time.

This episode also runs a bit differently than the one in the show, but we'll get to that later. Sokka will 'officially' appear in a later part of this episode, as will a 21-year-old OC, a waterbender named Kyla.

Rest assured, if there is any shipping that involves OCs (I do not see any in the near future, however), it will only be with other OCs—so no worries.

As for Haru, he has a role in this saga, but it is not here, so he was not on the rig.

AVATAR: THE LAST FIREBENDER

BOOK 1: WATER

CHAPTER 6-1: IMPRISONED, PART 1

_offshore mining rig, a few weeks before current times_

Katara wound up escaping the grasp of her captors that had taken her to Ba Sing Se, but she had been permanently changed in more ways than she would mention to anyone. Because of her powerful earthbending skills, people from various parts of the Earth Kingdom recognized the name Katara, but she was still far from being internationally renowned.

She took off far to the south, where she again was misfortunate to wind up in the hands of other captors. These ones recognized her as an earthbender straightaway, and set her in a region where she could do little to get out—a metal mining rig far out in the water. Katara's desire for freedom overpowered her fear of water, but this was soon put to rest after her failed attempt to give this a shot, as well as the beating that followed.

"_what the hell was I thinking,"_ Katara wondered to herself, coughing up blood, _"I can't swim—but I will not stay here. There has to be some way I can get out of here."_

Katara wound up establishing a name for herself a few days (and whippings, beatings, or other forms of torture) later. Those in charge of her were mostly just Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom nonbenders who sided with the Air Warriors either for profit or to avoid getting killed. They of course had Air Warriors overseers, but they mostly just flew around every now and again and observed the conditions from above. This observation was mostly effective, but it did not stop conversation from a brainwashed earthbender and a young adult waterbender—and conversation was difficult to notice from that high.

The two of them met at the rig, but Katara was somewhat skeptical about how and why a waterbender was there.

"They know I'm with the Water Tribes," the girl explained, "but what I want to know is why they've got a Ba Sing Se official here."

"I wish I knew as well," Katara grunted, "the name's Joo Dee, but a few people call me Katara for whatever reason. Anyways, I'll be blunt—I absolutely refuse to be held here for too long, so if you want to stick with me, we might be able to come up with a plan to bust out of here."

"You can call me Kyla," the waterbender replied, "Kyla of the Northern Water Tribe."

"Can you swim?"

"Very well, in fact. Though I would need some sort of backup or diversion big enough to help me get away. Besides, I thought we were in this together."

"We are. I was just wondering how you would be able to help me out of this mess, seeing as I can't swim, and my vision isn't what it used to be."

"You hide it well."

"I try. I have an idea on how to start a diversion though. However, there will be casualties."

"On which side?"

"Both sides—the problem with most of these earthbenders is that they have no will to live or fight. I've tried everything to help get them to join my cause, but to no avail."

"Well, that's sort of their fault now, isn't it?"

"That's the conclusion I came to. So you're not the self-righteous goody-goody type that would give me a lecture of the ages about morality if they got caught in my crossfire?"

"'course not, especially if you know who my family is. Anyways, what's your plan?"

"I can sense the earth around me," Katara explained, "there are fine particles in even the metal. It's just a form of earth that has been purified and refined. In other words, I've bent it before."

Kyla's eyes widened. "When did you bend metal?"

"See that railing over there? Those two rails are bent because of me."

Kyla's doubts were vanquished on the spot. "so what are your plans?"

"I'm going to collapse this whole place," Katara warned, "so I need you to bend the water away from us as we make our way back to shore. Anyone that doesn't fly or bend themselves to freedom will likely be lost here. Are you up for it?"

"The sooner the better." Kyla smirked, "I remember what I was your age—daring tactics like that were one of my favorite things to do. I just wish I knew where to find my two partners-in-crime."

"you can look for them after this if you want—I have other business I need to attend to down south."

"Very well then," Kyla nodded, "when that time that we part comes around, I want you to know that it was nice working with you, as well as meeting you, Joo Dee"

"Thanks," Katara shrugged, "but save that until after we bust out. We need to wait for now—listen for the right time to strike this plan into action."

However, they did not need to wait very long—in fact, it was only a few minutes before guards started pouring in. the others looked confused, and even Kyla did. Katara knew what was happening.

"They know what we're doing. Get ready Kyla!"

Without a second thought, Katara slammed her hands down on the metal plating, and ripples formed in it, carving a line through the center of the platform. Kyla stood close to Katara, and the rumbling from the rig made many people lose their footing. None of the guards were very skilled benders, and so the two prodigies were able to block most of the attacks (mostly Kyla, as there was water for her to bend, but there was little earth for Katara to bend).

The force of Katara's metalbending might was something that no one, friend or foe, has expected. She split the metal at the right place, and the sundering of the metal soon hit the boiler room. Something exploded down there, and this caused the entire derrick to begin collapsing. Kyla grabbed Katara's hand and the two jumped off the falling platform and landed into the water below.

Their hands separated somewhere during the jump, but it only took Kyla a few seconds to find the struggling Katara and pull her down with her. She used bending to drag them both to the bottom of the water, where she kept a large pocket of water for them to breathe and escape.

"crossing a body of water by going under it," Katara mused, chuckling, "I never would have thought of something like this. I gotta hand it to you, Kyla—you do well."

"You're not doing too shabby yourself, Joo Dee," Kyls smirked. The two teamed up, and Katara bent an earthen platform beneath their feet to help them move faster. Kyla bent the water out of their way and kept the two benders in the air pocket so they would not drown. Within a few minutes they were back on the shore, gazing back at the billowing smoke from the wreckage.

"well, here's the interesting part," Kyla raised an eyebrow, "I don't see anyone anywhere near the closest shoreline, so I think it's just you, me, and perhaps those angry airbenders buzzing around overhead trying to figure out what happened."

"Then Joo Dee approves," Katara beamed, pointing her thumb at herself and grinning. "Thank you again, Kyla. I wish you luck in finding your friends again."

"You're welcome, Joo Dee. I wish you luck on your mission as well."

Katara stamped her foot and brought up a large earth wave, which she started riding as she took off in a southward direction. She slowly started sinking into the ground as she left, until she vanished from Kyla's sight—travelling underground meant that one would not be seen by the Air Warriors quite as easily—it also meant getting caught would be a lot harder.

Kyla hid most of her Water Tribe possessions, and donned a sword and a boomerang to make it appear that she was a warrior instead of a bender. The Air Warriors in these parts did not seem to care what nationality a person was—just whether or not they were benders. Despite the Water Tribe being the Air Warriors' largest enemy, the Air Warriors here seemed to have few qualms with those who were not waterbenders. As a result, it was not too difficult for Kyla to lay low, but remain in the village.

Soon, in fact, she would find herself in a fateful encounter anyways.


	20. Imprisoned Part 2

AUTHOR'S NOTES—and now, Sokka is formally introduced. However, he and Katara have been separated for over two years at this point, so he is on his own when he appears. Also, similar to Xilingshi, Kyla plays a decent-sized role throughout the series. However, none of the OCs that appear in this story steal any limelight from any major characters, as they are a little older and have motives of their own that just happen to sometimes coincide with the interests of the heroes.

Theoretically, there could be a Sokka-Kyla relationship, since they're only two years apart, but even I see their relationship more as one of friendship than romance, so… no worries. I'll stick to my "no-OC/canon pairings" promise. ^^

(and sorry for the wait)

AVATAR: THE LAST FIREBENDER

BOOK 1: WATER

CHAPTER 6-2: IMPRISONED, PART 2

_Earth Kingdom village near the mining rig; present day_

The chaos that had reigned during the time of Katara and Kyla's breakout had subsided recently, but the nearby village was the one that paid for it. Air Warriors kept people from leaving, and bending was prohibited. Inspired by the lack of courage the prisoners had displayed during the collapse of the mining rig, (and perhaps at the influence of a certain Water Tribe woman), a few earthbenders resisted and escaped, though most were killed. The Air Warriors' dominance of the skies continued to play as their advantage over the other nations.

Aang, Toph, and Zuko arrived at this village, mostly just looking for a place to get supplies. By this time there was little evidence of any of the previous mayhem, or Katara's whereabouts. Sokka had been drawn to this village after hearing news about a violent incident involving an exploding rig and a metalbender. His first thoughts were that Katara had been involved, and although he did not know it or have any evidence to prove it, he was actually right.

However, the downside to Sokka's visit to this village was that he was no longer able to follow the leads he had gotten on his sister that had led him here in the first place, and so he was now trapped here. Incidentally, Toph, Aang, and Zuko were at this very same place, and were now under the same circumstances as well.

"We were just passing through," Zuko argued towards one of the Air Warriors, "and maybe stopping to get supplies. We've got money for them too. We have no intention of attacking this establishment or whatever other crazy conspiracy theory you can think of us doing."

The woman he was arguing with kept a straight face.

"Perhaps you were," she frowned, "but your party seems to clearly scream to any passersby that you are against the Air Warriors."

"Really now," Toph raised an eyebrow, "and what evidence is that?"

"This is Zuko of the Northern Water Tribe," the woman replied, "and this boy is an Air Nomad outside of the Northern Air Temple. Unless our security has been breached up there, this can only mean that he is also the Avatar. We know more about your little travelling band than you would first think."

"Perhaps you are overestimating your security," Aang remarked, remaining casual, "While we Air Nomads are peaceful by nature, it's clear that they can go bad and become fighters." Besides, don't real nomads travel around a lot anyways?"

"You present somewhat of a reasonable statement," the woman frowned, "however, we were given orders to not let anyone leave this place."

"So it's a trap then," Toph narrowed her eyes, "preying on travellers now?"

"You spark an interest, child," the Air Warrior commented, looking down at Toph, "What have you heard about Kyoshi Island in recent times?"

"How should I know, and more importantly, why should I tell you?" Toph snapped,

"I should know because you are a Kyoshi Warrior—or a pretender dressed as one, in the which case you will be executed here and now." The airbender replied, "And you should tell me for that same reason."

"I'm almost certain that the three of us could take you down," Toph retorted, and Zuko and Aang stood by her in support. The airbender's response, however, was not what they expected.

"I'm certain you could," she smiled, keeping a similar aura of calmness around her, "but I do not think that you could take on me and _them._"

She pointed behind her to the trees and various lookout towers, where a few airbenders occupying them used their combustion tactic to demonstrate their power. Even Zuko's left eye popped open a little from the surprise.

"Point taken," Toph said sheepishly, "so what do you want from us?"

"Your cooperation, Kyoshi," the airbender replied, using 'Kyoshi' as a shortened term instead of as a name, "you can remain here, and as long as you do not attack, your lives will be spared."

"We've got more important things to do than simply sit around in a village!" Aang protested,

"And we don't plan on doing that anyways," Toph snapped.

"Then you leave us no choice," the airbender sighed, and seconds later, several airbending rogues appeared out of nowhere and using a series of swift jabs, blocked the chi of Toph and Zuko, finishing their blows with shots to the forehead, knocking them unconscious. They aimed for Aang as well, but his own airbending reflexes kept him safe for a few moments longer. To him they had to give chase, but eventually their numbers gave them enough of an advantage on the Avatar that he too was knocked unconscious.

_Same village, a few hours later_

The three of them woke up in some run-down housing unit, where they were in the company of an Earth Kingdomer and a Water Tribeswoman. Zuko was the first one to regain awareness.

"Hey, you're awake!" the earthbender exclaimed—or, Zuko thought he was an earthbender anyways, "we've been trying to help you all recover from when you were hit—or rather, Kyla was. I sort of just watched since there wasn't much I could do."

"Who are you?" Zuko asked, somewhat skeptical.

"Name's Sokka," the man replied, "I'm not a bender either, and they still wouldn't let me go! I don't know what these people are up to, but there's far more to this village than meets the eye. There is a small stream of smoke still rising from out over the water. It's too far away for me to see, but if you three had anything to do with it, they'll have your heads."

"What the damn are you talking about?" Zuko massaged his forehead, "and who's Kyla?"

"That would be me," the waterbender replied, "I think your Kyoshi friend here woke up a few minutes ago, but she fell asleep again. You other friend here is alright as well."

"That's good to know," Zuko gave a satisfied smirk as he noticed Aang stirring, "but where are we, and what's going on here?"

"There was a disaster at the rig a few months ago," Kyla explained, "I was there."

"What!" Sokka exclaimed, "You never told me that, Kyla!"

"Well, Sokka, you do tend to be somewhat of a blabbermouth every now and again." Kyla giggled.

"Oh," Sokka rolled his eyes, "so telling it to me by myself is bad, but you can tell it to me when we've got three strangers with us? I guess the stuff you're on is stronger than I thought."

"No, silly," Kyla laughed, "you never asked about it."

Sokka sighed and smacked his forehead, because he knew that Kyla was right.

Aang was awake by this time, and so the four of them exchanged introductions.

"…and the Kyoshi Warrior is Toph," Aang finished.

"So that's the story of the rebellious recruit, then," Kyla raised an eyebrow.

"What's that now?" Zuko and Aang exclaimed, pausing for a moment as Toph muttered a few unintelligible words and rolled over.

"I've overheard a ton of Air Warrior gossip since the blast at the rig," Kyla smirked, "They say my father and several of the leaders of the Northern Water Tribe have some explaining to do."

"They've also been questioning their relationship with Kyoshi Island," Sokka added, "that's one thing I love about Kyla—she and I are great at getting information without getting caught."

"So what is this rig blast, and what exactly happened?" Aang asked.

"Me and this earthbender by the name of Joo Dee were on the rig." Kyla explained, "after she told me was could bend metal, we found our way out by collapsing and demolishing the entire derrick."

"What happened to the other prisoners?" Aang asked,

"There were only two survivors—Kyla said stoically, "Joo Dee and I. She was the one who collapsed the rig, and after we got back to shore, she took off."

"I thought you said she called herself Katara," Sokka argued.

"She said some people call her that," Kyla replied, "but she seemed convinced that that was a nickname. Whatever the case, she's probably been brainwashed."

"Did she mention me at all?"

"Not that I can recall; remember, Sokka, that 'Katara' as a name is not unique, and the Earth Kingdom only has a ton of people."

"Well, whatever the case, if you three are up for an escape plan, then join us and add your skills to ours."

"If you're not a bender," Toph asked, having woken up, "what _can_ you do?"

"See this," Kyla smirked, swiping Sokka's boomerang and holding it up, "he knocks Air Warriors out of the sky with it. He also, like we have said, is good at grabbing information and formulating tactics."

"Aww, you think that highly of me?" Sokka grinned

"Underneath your smart-alecky nature, yes, Sokka; I do."

"So that boomerang always comes back, eh?" Zuko asked,

"Damn straight it does!" Sokka grinned, pumping his fist, and swiping his boomerang back from Kyla's hand, "so are you all in or not?"

"Count us in." Zuko declared, "You've got an airbender, a Kyoshi Warrior, and another waterbender to add to your ranks now."


	21. Imprisoned Part 3

AUTHOR'S NOTES—although I do believe that Kyla would add a good female balance (against the [now] 3 guys) to the group, I figure she will be much like Xilingshi—supporting the heroes, but not directly travelling with them. Whatever the case, we haven't seen the last of her. None of those characters are going to be one-shots. They all play some role later on in the story.

Also, not all Air Warriors are bloodthirsty savages, though even some of these bloodlusted maniacs are not entirely evil either. This should have been somewhat obvious though, as even in the show, not all Fire Nationers were inherently evil either. =B

AVATAR: THE LAST FIREBENDER

BOOK 1: WATER

CHAPTER 6-3: IMPRISONED, PART 3

_Earth Kingdom village near the mining rig; a few days later_

The Air Warriors were at least honest about what they wanted from their prisoners. As long as they kept out of trouble, the air Warriors did not bother them. If anything, it seemed that 'taking people out of the war' like this was one of their objectives.

To Aang, who still possessed a certain love for airbenders of any sort, this was inspiration.

"They've still clung to certain old values," he explained, "They're not all monsters."

"Well," Toph snarked, "then I'm sure you can explain their motto?"

She showed him the sheet of paper with the Air Warrior standing next to the Kyoshi Warrior. The words on the sheet were what disturbed Aang.

_Kill by any means necessary_

_Win by any means necessary_

_Live by any means necessary_

_Die by any means necessary_

"I've never heard that one before," he remarked,

"Let me see that," Kyla asked, and Aang handed it to her. She read it over and examined the image.

"The only time I've ever heard that up north is when Kyoshi Warriors were involved." She exclaimed, "So the good news is that Aang is right—the Air Warriors are not all out to kill, win, live, or die by any means necessary. The bad news is that it appears to be the goal of the Kyoshi Warriors."

"So you're saying that THEY were the ones who started this war?" Toph exclaimed,

"No, not entirely," Kyla replied, "And remember that I am no sage. I am simply stating the while the Air Warriors started the war; the Kyoshi Warriors joined them at one point and added to their violent nature. Take that with a grain of salt, however. Most of my information came from one of the leaders of the Northern Water Tribe, or from my own snooping around."

"Hey," Aang argued, "I'll I was saying is that whatever our plan is, let's not let it involve slaying so many Air Warriors unless there is no other alternative."

"I could probably help formulate something like that," Kyla smiled, "let Sokka and I take care of the battle planning. Just let me know what type of fighting style you three specialize in."

"Ranged attacks, evasion, and counterattacks," said Aang

"Backstabbing, knifing, and close combat," Toph smirked,

"Waterbending and some ranged weapon expertise" Zuko cracked his knuckles.

"So is that all?" Aang raised an eyebrow,

"Aye," Kyla replied, "now what you three need to do is take a look around the village."

"Should we leave our weapons here?" Zuko asked her,

"Incidentally, I'd probably say no. for some reason the Air Warriors underestimate the power of raw steel, mostly because you can swing a sword all you want, but you won't hit much if your targets are all in the sky. It works most of the time, but sometimes their gliders get hit, and when on the ground, they're easy prey. However, try to avoid getting into any fights if you can. Remember—your goal here is to have a look around."

"…and report what we see to you?" Toph raised an eyebrow.

"No, I already know the lay of the land." Kyla replied, "And I'd explain it to you, but it'd be easier for you all just to see it for yourselves. Just don't get too close to the guards, and try to act casual. You're just walking around and 'enjoying the scenery'. This little excursion you're going on is for your benefit."

After they left, Kyla and Sokka got down and began formulating an escape plan.

"So, Kyla, are we going to tell them that they're going to be our main fighting force?"

"Eventually we will; but you and I will be doing our share of fighting. You'll be the one to 'rang down many of the flying Air Warriors that I'll probably let Toph take care of. Zuko and I are going to start the diversion by dragging huge amounts of water into the village after Sokka gives his sign by throwing his boomerang into the air."

"So let's get this straight," Sokka nodded, "Aang and I will be the ones to take down the fly-guys…"

"Fly-girls, more like; most of these warriors are women."

"Whatever. Anyways, we do that, you and Zuko are going to start the diversion, and Toph's just going to go in there and slice-n-dice?"

"That sounds about right," Kyla agreed, "I forgot that Aang has that glider too. Good call."

"Toph's the only one that has any sort of armor, no matter how light, but for some reason she doesn't ring to me as an Earth Kingdomer, so it would be a good idea not to overestimate her resilience."

"Well, that's why she's not the brute. She's clearly a rogue in her fighting style, and so I suspect she'll be there to lacerate anyone who stands in our way."

"Well, if she's not the brute, then who is?"

"Probaly Zuko or I, or perhaps us both. It depends on which side receives the aid"

"You don't suspect there will be so many reinforcements, do you? I mean, with the rig gone, there can't be much significance left in this village."

"That was initially what I thought, but then I realized that they are holding onto this little place pretty tightly. It clearly has some sort of significance."

"That would definitely explain a lot." Sokka agreed, "But I suppose now we just need to wait for the others get back so we can give them the lowdown. When do we want to pull it off?"

"As soon as they return," Kyla grinned, "we're going all out."

_Same village, about an hour later_

Zuko, Aang, and Toph returned and reported their knowledge of the lay of the land, to which Kyla and Sokka grinned, and then they explained their plan.

"Aang, you will be going with Sokka towards the main entry where most of the guard towers are." Kyla explained, "you've got a glider like them, so they won't be so high-and-mighty with you in there disrupting their plans."

"I don't have to kill them, do I?" Aang asked,

"Hardly;" Kyla replied, "though Sokka might not be above killing them. You just need to keep them from launching too many attacks at the rest of us or the village. Most importantly, keep them from any combustion-style tactics. You'll hear crackling and popping if one of them is about to launch that type of an attack, so it'll be easy to notice."

"So how about us," Toph and Zuko asked,

"Toph, you say you fight like a rogue, correct?" Sokka asked,

"That's me," Toph beamed.

"Then you'll love what you get to do. Go back to the entrance with the fewest guards, and just wait there. After the diversion is set off, you might get attacked, which is when you get to go to town on anyone who tries to try and skewer you."

"I approve." Toph grinned, "Though about that diversion…?"

"I take it that that part is my job?" Zuko asked,

"Well," Sokka replied, "yours and Kyla's. You two, after seeing me throw my boomerang into the air, you two are to pull as much water from the coast into the village, preferably aiming it at some of the Air Warrior buildings that you saw. Once the water is in, you can probably bend it as well. you are a pretty good waterbender, right?"

"Chief Iroh taught me most of my know-how," Zuko shrugged, "so I guess so."

"Chief Iroh?" Kyla exclaimed, "Excellent. You have to be pretty good then. So, are there any objections to the plan then?"

Overall, all three of them liked the idea (Aang again suggested that they try to be as nonviolent as was possible, to which Kyla agreed). Zuko and Kyla headed for the coat, Toph situated herself near one of the exits, and Sokka and Aang positioned themselves near some of the guard towers.

Their "minor setback" was about to be over at last.


	22. Imprisoned Part 4

AUTHOR'S NOTES—Azula returns. There have been comments and reviews regarding Azula and what I should do with her. I've approved of many of them, and something else or another, yaddey yaddey blah blah blah, something about orange juice, and anyways, Azula's still a bit off in the head (though we don't see much of that in this episode or chapter) but there is much more to her than that. In this chapter we get to see a few of Azula's feelings—actual feelings. You know, like, emotions and stuff.

And inevitably, shipping—since most fans will take whatever they can get. Sokka's quite the ladies' man, isn't he? *wink*

AVATAR: THE LAST FIREBENDER

BOOK 1: WATER

CHAPTER 6-4: IMPRISONED, PART 4

_Earth Kingdom mining rig village, right before the gang's operation_

The gang was all in their respective positions, waiting for Sokka's signal. However, here was where they hit a setback. And Air Warrior landed in front of them, and Aang recognized her right away.

"Azula?" he exclaimed, and Azula smirked.

"Charmed, Avatar." She cooed, "But one must ask what you are doing in a place like this? Did these Air Warriors capture you?"

"More like trapped us," Aang shrugged, whipping out his staff, "but I don't want to hear your words—I know I can't trust them."

"Then you know well," Azula smiled sweetly, and then she noticed Sokka, "but I didn't know you needed a lackey to come with you on the road. I would have thought that Toph and Zuzu would have been enough."

Both Aang and Sokka held back a laugh.

"Zuzu," Aang snorted,

"Aye, Zuzu," Azula shrugged, "so, what'll it be, Avatar?"

"I just have a couple of things I'd like to ask you, if you don't mind," Sokka stepped forward.

"Oh," Azula raised an eyebrow, "this should be good. Surely you don't think that just because you can knock random guard numbers 15 and 16 out of the sky with your weapons means you can also do the same to me, do you?"

"Well," Sokka smirked, "I might've thought that, but that would have had to be before I saw you. Now that I have, I really cannot see a reason why I would want to do that."

"I'm glad to see that gaining your cooperation is easier than jumping out of bed," Azula remarked, but Sokka interrupted her and continued.

"I suppose the only tragic part of the matter is that someone so beautiful wishes to waste her time killing an everyday warrior like myself. I see little need for you to join this fray and get blood all over that pretty face and all smattered in that lovely hair."

"Sokka, what the heck are you doing?" Aang whispered through his teeth, but Sokka held his hand out to silence him.

To Aang's surprise, a tinge of pink appeared on Azula's cheeks.

"I," she stammered, "I don't know whether to have you tortured or to just kill you myself."

Sokka seemed to be buying time, but this had not been part of the plan. Granted, meeting Azula had not been part of the plan either, and so Sokka was playing a different card.

All this time Sokka was buying wound up getting Zuko, Kyla, and Toph curious as to what was keeping him. They eventually wandered in behind him and saw who he was facing, and so they stopped a ways away, skeptically staring.

"Well," Sokka repeated, "like I have said: there is no reason to get flustered about a simple compliment. I suppose it is possible for someone who has never been complimented in such a way like that before, but I figure that with such striking beauty such as your own, that this would definitely not apply to you. Surely you have had streams of compliments from other more attractive and more talented men, and so hearing it from someone such as myself is nothing new to you."

"What are you trying to get from me?" Azula snapped, "I don't even know you, let alone like you."

"Ah, but your blushing tells a completely different story, my dear," Sokka cooed, "While I am not saying that it indicates that you are madly in love with me, for example, it does show that you are indeed flattered. Again, I am unsure why you would be so flattered by remarks you probably hear hundreds of times every day, but I suppose that is one of your mysteries to be kept to yourself. I am in no position to ask you about them."

Zuko's jaw was hanging agape. He was not bothered by Sokka flirting with his sister as much as he was that Sokka was able to keep her talking instead of attacking. Her red face was also a sight he had never seen, and he definitely had a few things he would demand to know from Sokka if they got out of this mess all in one piece.

"My secrets are my own," Azula snapped defensively, swinging her staff towards Sokka, who jumped back before it could connect with him. To his surprise, she did not attack him again.

"My dear lady, now you are confusing me," Sokka sighed, "you attack me and then you don't, you seem to enjoy hearing my words but you wish to kill me. If there is something you want from me, all you have to do is ask—you are in the position to bargain, not me."

"GET OUT OF HERE!" she roared in her frustration, "YOU AND ALL OF YOUR CREEPY LITTLE FRIENDS!"

"Thank you, my lady." Sokka smiled, and as he walked by, he lightly pecked her on the cheek. Azula stood motionless as Kyla, Aang, Zuko, Sokka, and Toph all hauled it outside the village. A little ways out they found Appa and Momo, who were grazing with a few other sky bison. Appa recognized his master easily enough, however, and so there was no guessing game involved here as they all got on and flew off. Toph and Kyla were laughing hysterically, (Kyla's eyes were watering), Sokka simply smirked, and Aang and Zuko looked spetically at him.

"Why were you flirting with my sister?" Zuko exclaimed,

"Well," Sokka stammered, "I didn't know she was your sister, but I was mostly trying to get her to call off her attack on us, or, as you saw, scare the hell out of her. I don't know how she thinks, but she's clearly not used to that sort of praise. So, I continued to give it to her until she freaked out. If you want me away from your sister though, just give the word."

"No, honestly I could care less," Zuko shrugged, "I was mostly wondering how you did it."

"Well, a little of it was honesty." Sokka confessed, "now that I know you don't care, I'll let you know your sister is kinda pretty. It was a lot easier to pretend to flirt with someone that wasn't hard on the eyes as opposed to some ugly mug, you know?"

"Well, it worked," Toph shrugged, "though I didn't get to see if your boomerang really does return."

"I was hoping you'd ask that," Sokka grinned and he instantly whipped something out and threw it back behind them as they flew. It fell and disappeared into the abyss of and beneath them.

"So you're a fraud." Toph scoffed

"Nope," Sokka grinned, pulling out his real boomerang, "that was joke. That was just a random stick. THIS is my real boomerang."

He threw it out behind them again, and true to his word, it came right back.

"So do you want to come with us," Aang offered, "we're heading up to the Northern Water Tribe for starts, but since I'm the Avatar, I'm going to have to eventually also find an earthbending teacher and a firebending teacher."

"Well," Sokka replied, "I was originally going to try and find my sister, but I have no leads. I suppose I can go with you guys, especially if you're coming back to the Earth Kingdom afterwards."

"Welcome aboard then," Aang smiled, "we're glad to have you."

"How about you, Kyla?" Sokka asked her,

"I think I'll hop off at the next trading port we stop at," she replied, "I've got a few things I need to do that you all probably don't need to get involved with."

"What kind of things?" Aang wondered,

"mostly political garbage," Kyla shrugged, "since my father is one of the leaders of the tribes, see, that also throws some responsibility onto my own head."

"Ah. Got it. Well, you're welcome to travel with us for as long as you need to."

"Thanks," Kyla smiled, "it's good to know that at least one flying bison is not in the hands of the Air Warriors in times like these."

Appa gave a grunt of approval, and continued flying the group (Momo included) northwards, slightly in favor of the setting sun.


	23. Winter Solstice 1—Spirit World Part 1

AUTHOR'S NOTES—Long delay, I know. This chapter will go down a bit different than in the show as well. Also, to those who worry about the likes of Kyla or Xilingshi taking over the limelight of the main characters need not worry. They (as well as their earthbending friend, named Hatu, who has not been introduced yet) are all minor-ish characters, but significant enough that they appear in multiple episodes and chapters. As for what happened to Azula in the last chapter, that will be explained later.

I jump through parts of this quickly, because there are other added parts that are necessary to disclose soon in this episode.

AVATAR: THE LAST FIREBENDER

BOOK 1: WATER

CHAPTER 7-1: WINTER SOLSTICE 1—THE SPIRIT WORLD, PART 1

_Forest outside of Senlin Village; a few days later_

Sokka, Aang, Toph, and Zuko wound up dropping Kyla off at the next village they came across as they promised her they would, and then continued on their way. Their next stop took them to a small village on the borders of a huge forest. The forest itself looked like it had been a part of some sort of Air Warrior raid, as the landscape looked like a tornado had hit it.

"Are we going to go examine it or something?" Toph raised an eyebrow, "'coz there's not much we can do other than wait for the seeds and stuff to grow again."

"We can at least take a look to see how long ago this attack was," Aang replied, "and that way we'll know how far away these Air Warriors might be by now."

"Unless they're still here," Toph argued.

"Toph," Zuko argued, "if they were still here we'd be in a brawl right now."

"So what's the point of this stop? So a few airbenders blew some trees down. Big friggin' whoop."

"What would you know of it?" Aang snapped, "you're just some random earthbender. You don't understand what it's like to know that these are your people doing this damage."

"You don't think the Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation and Water Tribes have done something bad like this before?" Toph countered.

"Was it in your lifetime?" Zuko nodded at Toph, and she fell silent for a moment.

"I'll shut up now." She frowned, "if you need me I'll be sulking in this corner sharpening my swords so I can start blasting faces up and down the continent."

"Is that really how you think about all of this," Zuko raised an eyebrow, "killing by any means necessary? You might be more of a Kyoshi Warrior than we thought."

"Hey," Toph snapped, "these are the only clothes I have, since those jerks at Kyoshi jacked my other ones. Also, give me 25 good reasons why I shouldn't be armed when I don't have fancy waterbending like you or airbending like Aang."

"You've got earthbending." Aang replied.

"Do I?" Toph replied, "because I thought I was just a non-bender considering that you've… you know, never seen me earthbend? I don't carry swords around because I look sexy with them; I carry them so I can slice people's throats out in self-defense."

"Does she always have this kind of attitude?" Sokka wondered aloud,

"She's always been the snarky one," Zuko noted, "but she's gotten a lot worse lately."

"You two act like that's such a bad thing. Forget I said anything though. Let's shut up, take a look at the twisted forest of doom, and then stop at that village and get some supplies."

Appa growled once their argument stopped. Even he seemed pleased that it was over. Momo chirped and leapt over to Toph's lap, where she held him and fell silent. Aang flew off of Appa and dove to investigate the twisted remains of the forest. He found little of interest there other than a few acorns, which he brought back with him.

"So what was your amazing discovery down there, mister Avatar?" Toph rolled her eyes.

"really now," Sokka shook his head, "Toph, that wasn't necessary."

"Whatever," Toph shrugged, and she closed her eyes.

"Those Kyoshi Warriors are quite cynical, aren't they?" he chuckled.

"You don't know the half of what we went through down there," Zuko laughed, "I think she's just tired or something. She's normally not this bad."

Eventually, the group landed at the nearby village of Senlin, which they were surprised to find partially destroyed. This struck them as odd because the forest was intact around this area, and none of them thought that the Air Warriors would take much regard for simply smashing the city and not the forest that surrounded it. There was other work going on here.

A little bit of asking around from Sokka and Zuko gave them the information they needed, which they brought back to Aang.

"For one thing," Zuko reported, "there don't seem to be Air Warriors here. The other good news is that they seem to be looking for you. There's a spirit on the loose here."

"Oh," Toph looked up, "this should be good."

"I… am somewhat surprised that that was not a snarky remark, Toph."

"Well, if you want it to be, just ask, you know." Toph grinned.

"No thanks," Aang shook his head, turning back to Zuko, "so what's the problem?"

"Apparently every night this thing comes in, smashes parts of the village, and takes any villagers that are outside at the time." Zuko replied, "you're the Avatar, and so maybe you can do some sort of mediation, since you're the link between the two worlds and everything."

"I could probably do that," Aang agreed, "after all, that's what the avatar does. I'm supposed to help people, right?"

"Sounds reasonable enough for me," Sokka nodded, "but I'm staying inside when night falls, if you don't mind. I'm no bender, and definitely no link to the spirit world, mister Avatar."

"You don't think we can just…"

"No, Toph."

"Damn it." Toph swore, and put her swords away.

Eventually, the group agreed to stay the night at the village, with Aang seeing what he could to to help calm the raging spirit that ravaged the city every evening.

_Same village, nightfall_

The villagers of Senlin were all cooped up in the main town center, waiting the rampage of the spirit, which was affectionately known as Hei Bei. Aang stood outside, a few meters from the door, waiting for something to happen. Toph, Zuko, and Sokka were watching from the windows.

It was a few minutes before anything else happened, and Aang was almost caught off guard when the spirit monster smashed through the gates and started ravaging things. Aang tried getting its attention, even to the point where he was about to start fighting it. To Toph, this was as good a sign as any to draw her swords and run out there. She used a large piece of debris to boost the air she got from a jump, and lunged at the beast, blades drawn.

Unfortunately for Toph, Hei Bei was not about to fall form this type of an attack. Instead it spun around and with one of its massive arms, swiped Toph out of the air. Once it had her in its grasp, it took off back into the forest, leaving Aang and the villagers who had seen the event form the window all speechless.

"Well," Zuko shrugged once Aang came back defeatedly to the town center, "I'm not sure if I should be sad about this or if I should keep laughing."

"Regardless of how much of a jerk she's been lately," Aang sighed, "we need to rescue her, and all the other villagers who have been captured. The spirit is not going to stop attacking just because it had Toph, is it?"

"You've got a point," Zuko grunted. "so what is your plan?"

"I've gotta follow its trail," Aang declared, and without another word, he sped out of the building and into the woods with the speed of an airbender."

"He's a fast little guy," Sokka commented, "No wonder the airbenders have an advantage. Speed and sky? What more do you need?"

"Let's just hope Aang can get Toph and the others back to safety. I know what it's like to lose close friends and comrades—it happened to me a lot in the south."

"Hey," Sokka shrugged, "I'm just saying—those airbenders are smart ladies. Still, I'm sorry about your losses. Let's hope your friend Aang gets back soon, eh?"

"Definitely," Zuko agreed. "He'll come back. The hero never dies."


	24. Winter Solstice 1—Spirit World Part 2

AUTHOR'S NOTES—Enter the chapter in which we learn about 's incessant repetition of annoying errors and me using them as excuses for not posting chapters. Nevertheless, that's over.

Also, the power of gold [aka AU] strikes again, and thus shots at a future Avatar are made, and a few questionable aspects of spirit shenanigans are also made. It's somewhat of a comic relief chapter, mostly because the parts where we focus on the Avatar's hunters (Zhao and Azula), are in their own chapters, so I had to think of some filler stuff—and being serious too much is boring. So sue me.

Also, be comforted in knowing that there is plot advancement. So no worries.

AVATAR: THE LAST FIREBENDER

BOOK 1: WATER

CHAPTER 7-2: WINTER SOLSTICE 1—THE SPIRIT WORLD, PART 2

_The Spirit World; shortly after Aang's pursuit of Hei Bei_

Somehow with all of Aang's pursuit of the spirit monster, he wound up in the spirit world itself.

"_I suppose the questioning of such phenomena might be a relational idea, except that this is all spirit-world related confusion anyway. What's the point?"_

However, he ran into quite the shock upon seeing the spirit form of a dragon approach him. His normal instincts would have told him to run, but for some reason he knew to stand his ground. The dragon stopped in front of him, and by that time it was close enough for him to notice that a girl was riding it. She clearly looked Water Tribe, however, and so Aang raised an eyebrow when she jumped off.

"I recognize this dragon," he commented, looking at the girl, "but… who are you? You're certainly not Roku. What happened to him?"

"I ask that myself sometimes, Aang," the woman replied, "whatever the case though, he told me to get you, and I got to ride a dragon. Firebenders got it lucky."

"It's a pity there's none of them left." Aang frowned.

"There is at least one," the woman replied, "so you are not devoid of a potential teacher. Nevertheless, I digress. Come with me."

The woman jumped back on the dragon, with Aang behind her. The dragon let out a satisfied roar and shot through the sky.

"So who are you?" Aang asked,

"Kyla," the woman replied, "the same one you had in your party earlier."

"Are you serious?" Aang's eyes popped open

"'course not," the girl laughed, "I'm an Avatar. If she was one, she'd be dead. 'Name's Korra."

"I don't remember you."

"I'm not from your past. I'm from your future."

"I swear if Toph's cracks about me being reincarnated as a woman are true, I'll…"

"Hey, I don't make the rules either. Besides, is there only one Water Tribe Avatar in your future? If anything, the Water Tribes will be the last nation standing."

"So where are we going?"

"Fire Temple; apparently even though I am so awesome that I can harass people in spirit whenever I please, you have to go there in order to talk to Roku—you know; past life communication, all that jazz."

"So why am I getting counseled by a future incarnation? That seems… out of place."

"How many other Avatars can you name that get to master the elements in under a year?"

"Crap. You got me there."

"Besides, I'm not even here to give you sage words of wisdom. That will be for my Earth Kingdom successor. I'm just here to be Roku's messenger girl. Fang here helped me."

"So why can you and Fang come see me, but Roku can't?"

"Well, I'm not sure why Fang could, but I do because I break rules. If you're the orthodox type, you'll hate me once I'm born."

Aang had no reply for this, and so remained mostly silent until Korra took them to the Fire Temple. There was an Air Warrior flag flying over it, but Korra paid no attention to it. They passed through the walls of the building with no trouble (being spirits and all) until they were in the central chamber that held a massive statue of Avatar Roku.

"So, apparently this is my fancy-pants way of telling you that you need to come see Roku here. Apparently this is the easiest time for you to reach him. Come here tomorrow—at the peak of the winter solstice. There is some news he has for you. However, that's all I was sent to do, so I suppose I can either take you back or let you wander the world in spirit form till you find your body."

"Take me home—but can't you just tell it to me if you know he has news?" Aang asked as Fang flew him back towards Senlin Village.

"Hey, if I had my way in spirit world politics, I'd do things a lot differently. Apparently my only job is to look awesome and to whip anyone at an arm wrestle who challenges me. For the record though, he didn't tell me what it was."

"What DID he tell you?"

"Something along the lines of 'take my dragon, find Aang, tell him I want to talk with him, and buy me something to eat. He said I could keep the change."

"You know, I had almost had the spirit world thing figured out, and then you say that and throw all my elaborately pieced together puzzles out the window. This saddens me."

"Well, I'll kick a few things into a story if it is boring enough, kinda like what I just did."

"That makes a little more sense. Hey, speaking of weird things that don't exactly make sense, can you tell me anything about the spirit monster that took my friend?"

"The Fire Nation girl?"

"She's a firebender?"

"I couldn't say—you can't bend in the spirit world, remember? However, as the all-knowing spirit of awesome that I am, I can at least tell you that she is from the Fire Nation—that's what she told me, at least."

"Who else have you met?"

"I've met everyone," Korra chuckled, "the people that Hei Bei took were all there too. Regarding your friend however, if she's a bender, she certainly prefers other methods of fighting. To answer your question of the spirit—look back. It patrols a forest, half of which was destroyed. You saw it yourself. Frankly, I'd be a bit set off too if someone smashed half of my home."

"But that's exactly what it's doing to the innocent people of Senlin now."

"Spirits don't seem to differentiate humans," Korra frowned, "it sucks; I know."

"So what am I supposed to do?"

"Beats me—probably just tell Hei Bei that it will grow back—kinda like the Fire Nation. They're not fully wiped out, you know."

"The last time I tried talking to it I think it tried to kill me."

"Well, either you do it or you don't. whatever the case, you're back now."

And he was, and Korra and Fang had vanished. He appeared back in the village, where he was welcomed back by Zuko, Sokka and the other villagers.

"So," Zuko raised an eyebrow, "any word about Toph?"

"Actually," Aang started, refusing to mention this Korra woman, with the grudging thought that Zuko (and Toph, once Zuko told her) would never let him live it down, automatically assuming that because it was a Water Tribe Avatar, that she was Aang's successor.

"Let's hear it, Aang."

"well, a spirit told me that she was in fact from the Fire Nation."

"No wonder she's evasive." Sokka commented, "I'm surprised that she's not out to try and annihilate any and all airbenders as some sort of vengeance game. I met a few Fire Nationers like that."

"so," Zuko interrupted, "did you hear anything about her?"

"I have no idea where she is," Aang apologized, "but I know how to solve the spirit problem, which then will probably bring her back."

Aang explained it to them, as well as his objective to get to the Fire Temple to visit Roku on the solstice. They were fine with that part, but the plan to pacify the spirit was met with a little more opposition. This time Sokka was the skeptic.

"So you're going to show it an acorn and give it some words of wisdom, and hope that it doesn't blast you apart with that giant beam of death?"

"That's… one way to put it, I guess." Aang shrugged.

"Sokka," Zuko grinned, "let's bet on this."

"What is it with you and betting, Zuko?" Aang laughed, "you never win."

"I think your plan will work, Aang. He doesn't. This is easy."

"you mean you believe that when the spirit rampages through the city, I'll stop it by calling out and showing it the acorn?"

Zuko paused for a moment. "You know what, those spirits must think giant monsters like that are easy-sneezy. You're right. Your theory sounds stupid."

"Bet me against it then?" Aang offered.

"You are so on." Zuko grinned.

Korra's suggestion to Aang turned out to be spot-on, and Zuko found himself growling furiously at himself for letting Aang con him into entering a losing bet. Hei Bei was placated by Aang's words of rassurance that the forest would indeed regrow. From the four-armed beast that it was, it morphed into a panda, walked right out of the village, and left in its wake a clump of bamboo stalks. Out of these walked all the missing villagers, as well as the Kyoshi Warrior that was Toph.

"Toph, you're back," Zuko chuckled, "how do you feel?"

"Like I've gotta use the bathroom," she cringed, "there are a few conveniences that the spirit world could really work on…"

As she slunk away, Aang, Sokka, and Zuko simply chuckled.


	25. The Mind of Azula

AUTHOR'S NOTES—this chapter… I dunno what made me do it, but there's something about it that irks me. Oh well. Here is the chapter in the which, of course, we learn where our Avatar-hunters are, we learn a little more about Azula the Airbender's character, and we see smexy Zhao, and some sort of reference to a parody. If I'm supposed to have an excuse for what I'm doing… well, I don't.

Also, a brief note on Zhao: Waterbender!Zhao has more self-control than firebender!Zhao, if nothing else, because of the difference in the two elements. However, he is still arrogant, cunning, and ambitious. I could never destroy the Zhao that we all know and love.

AVATAR: THE LAST FIREBENDER

BOOK 1: WATER

CHAPTER 7-3: THE MIND OF AZULA

_Wilderness in the near vicinity of Senlin village; earlier_

When Sokka had convinced Azula to let him and the Avatar's gang pass, she simply returned to the wilderness. To her surprise, however, she ran into Zhao, in all situations, out by himself in the middle of nowhere. Well, it was not entirely nowhere; there were hot springs in the area. Zhao was relaxing in one of them, using waterbending to create his own steam as well.

"Zhao," she exclaimed, somewhat surprised with the way she had walked in on him, as it appeared that at the very least, he was shirtless. However, seeing that his other clothes were next to where he had left his shirt, the implications of what he was and was not wearing were very clear.

"Azula," he raised his arms, laughing, "I'm surprised to see you out here."

"Ugh, Zhao," Azula cringed, turning away as Zhao stood up, "sit back down. It's not like you haven't seen me before or anything."

"Kick back, relax then." Zhao offered, sinking back into the water, "you seem different."

"Will you leave me alone about it?" Azula snapped,

"Not if there's a juicy tale to tell, girl," Zhao chuckled. Azula shook her head, but soon jumped into the hot spring next to Zhao's, though she remained fully clothed.

"So tell me about what happened at the rig." Zhao offered, "I need a good story before I get out."

"I'm afraid that the exact events that transpired are not your business, chief," Azula countered, "however, it sufficeth me to say that the Avatar and his friends escaped."

"Or were they let go?" Zhao countered.

Azula sighed for a moment. "Chief Zhao," she stated, "do you know why I am out and about on an Avatar-hunt?"

"As a matter of fact, I do not." Zhao replied. "You know that I am here for the prize, correct?"

"Aye; on the other hand, I am out here because of my own choices. I was not banished from the Air Temples, nor was I on bad terms with Monk Azulon, Sister Ilah, or Sister Ursa. I left because they showed no concern for me. They only seemed interested in my skills. Ursa thought I was a monster."

Zhao chuckled at this last remark of Azula's.

"Granted, they were right to a degree, but it still hurt. Nevertheless, I went out into the world to let them know that nothing stands between me and what I want."

"So how badly did you want the Avatar?"

"I wanted to find him badly enough that I have done the things I did, but not badly enough that let him escape when the situation is anti-climactic."

"You have some weird motives, Azula."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"If you do not know what you are trying to do with your life, then you will go nowhere, no matter how prodigious you become or how much you think you accomplish."

"I understand that, Zhao; and this is not meant to be my sob story. However, with Sage Ozai's disappearance from your tribe, combined with the duel my mother and brother had, helped throw everything into a mess. Our relations with the Water Tribes have always been really screwed up if you ask me."

"It was the Water Tribes that nudged the Air Warriors into attacking the world," Zhao explained, "however, after that, they assumed that we were on their side for this, which we weren't. Some of the tribes joined the Air Warrior Confederacy just to be on the winning side, and I was among them. Water is the element of change and adaptability, Azula. It was because of me that the Northern Water Tribe abandoned many of its old traditions, including allowing women to fight, increased trade, and better technologies. It was these things that brought the Water Tribes forward, and we are the most powerful nation in the world."

"You don't think that that is why the Air Warriors have taken so much interest in your nation?"

"Of course it is. However, what we wanted was neutrality. Since your clans were not exactly keen on giving it to us, we turned to our old secrets for our tactics, which is why it seems we are working against your people."

"Zhao, enough chit-chat. get to the point and tell me where the Water Tribes stand in this war."

"We are neutral. That is why we are not trying to defend the Earth Kingdom or the Air nomads in this situation. I am doing what is in the best interest for my tribe."

"And what about my uncle?"

"You should know him better than me, Azula."

"I wish I could say that, but he is from the Water Tribes as well. Certainly there is some sort of alliance between the two of you that I want in on."

"Perhaps there is, airbender. Whatever the case is, however, leave me be for now. I need a nap."

Azula shook her head.

"fine." She climbed out and shook some water out of her, "just don't get yourself caught by those random earthbenders—I wouldn't want to have to save your hide again."

Zhao chuckled and bid Azula a farewell. He then relaxed and took a nice nap.

However, he was rudely awakened by a small unit of earthbenders who recognized him. They bent rocks out of the surrounding area to trap Zhao where he was resting.

"I take it there's some sort of reason for you disturbing my slumber. You do realize that there are parts of the Earth Kingdom still petitioning to my tribe for aid, do you not?"

"Perhaps it is your indifference to these pleas as well as your double-crossing tactics that drew our attention in the first place, waterbender."

"This no ordinary waterbender, the Earth General explained, "this is the once great Commander Zhao."

"Once great? That's not what your wife said last night."

"He burned you there, general." One of the soldiers noted.

"Shut up, private."

"This is the same Chief Zhao that brought a failed Water Tribe invasion all the way to the walls of Ba Sing Se. Why don't you tell us what you were thinking?"

"I was thinking the same thing any red-blooded bender was thinking—I wanted to take the damn place down. Know that I am not above doing that again, either. The Air Warriors are consistently weakening your forces. They keep that up and it will give me ample opportunity to take them down."

"You are doing little to help your own position."

"Come now, do you really think that you would lighten your punishment just for me saying 'sorry'? Do what you will with me—you know I'll just escape again using dirty tactics."

"That's enough," the Earth General stated, and they were able to capture Zhao with no resistance. They also had the courtesy of letting him get his clothes back, though they confiscated his water skins and emptied them. The rest of his trip was quiet, as he started brainstorming escape plans.

_Zhao's hot springs; later in the evening_

Azula and a few of her Air warriors returned to the place where Zhao had last been, and were somewhat surprised at what they saw—at least, Azula's henchmen and women were.

"Get back to the ships," Azula ordered, "I'll meet you there later."

The airbenders did as they were told, and Azula took off in swift pursuit of Zhao's captors.

It was only about an hour before her swift speed had her catch up with them. She noticed them by flying over them, but she did not make herself known to them, and she kept flying.

Zhao had noticed her, however, and he grinned. He bent his legs forward and so he fell backwards off the ostrich-horse they had set him on, and landed on his back. He brought his feet close enough to his face for him to blow onto the chains—in order to freeze them. He slammed his feet back against the ground, but it had not been enough. He had acted quickly; he just had not had enough time.

The earthbenders apprehended him, and then decided that he was too dangerous to be kept alive and well. he would at least need to be disabled permanently. Waterbenders used their hands to fight, mostly, and so they figured that disabling them would do the trick. However, Azula was perched right above them, waiting for this opportune moment.

Right as they lifted the rock to smash Zhao, she dove off the side of the cliff and jump-kicked the rock out of the way. She then spun around and jabbed her finger in Zhao's direction—or rather, at the chains around his hands, to be exact.

This was a move that surprised them all. The Airbending combustion tactic was not something that could be easily executed like that, let alone from one's fingertips at such a speed. Once Zhao's hands were free, he stood up and Azula fired another shot to break the chains keeping his legs together. They stood back to back, surrounded by the earthbenders.

"You're not going to win this one," she warned, her fingers pointing at them, "surrender now, and you won't get yourself blasted to bits the way these chains have been."

Azula demonstrated her point by firing several short blasts of compressed air near the earthbenders, which exploded upon impact with the ground. Azula had turned the infamous Air Warrior technique into a projectile weapon.

Earthbenders were proud, stubborn people though, and so they put up a fight, launching huge rocks at Zhao and Azula. Zhao used his own physical strength to avoid the attacks, as he was devoid of any water. Azula blasted the rocks into fragments using her bending skills. This was somewhat of a repetitive process up until Zhao and Azula resorted to dirty fighting tactics to overwhelm their opponents. They did not stop this operation until the earthbenders were all either killed or unconscious. Once this happened, Azula simply started walking away.

"You owe me one, Chief." She smirked.


	26. Winter Solstice 2—Avatar Roku Part 1

AUTHOR'S NOTES—This chapter took a while to think out, especially since I decided that it was still a Fire Temple that the gang went to. So when you find a door that requires firebending to enter… is the answer simply to use explosive forces? Also, Suki returns, and Zuko takes up snowboarding (well, iceboarding). Also, I apologize for the huge delay in posting this chapter. That is all.

AVATAR: THE LAST FIREBENDER

BOOK 1: WATER

CHAPTER 8-1: WINTER SOLSTICE 2—AVATAR ROKU, PART 1

_The skies, midday_

"So," Toph remarked once they were back in the skies, "are we done trying to help every kitten out of a tree and helping every little old lady cross a busy street? I mean, don't you have a world to save from the big bads over at the Air Temples?"

"Is that all you do, Toph," Aang snapped, "snark and complain about everything that doesn't go your way? If you don't like what we do, then why are you following us?"

"If you don't want me following, just drop me off at that Fire Temple and I'll figure out what to do with myself from there. Honestly, I didn't know you were all so stuck-up about this."

"I hardly think it's us that are the stuck-up ones, Toph." Zuko argued, "You know me well enough though to know that I'll take a neutral stance in this argument. If you don't like the duties of the Avatar, then perhaps it is best if we part ways."

Toph and Zuko both glanced at Sokka.

"Hey," he shrugged, "don't look at me. I just met you all. To me, Aang is the one that has to be the hero, Zuko just goes with the flow, and Toph seems to just piss everyone else off."

"Lovely way of describing me," Toph remarked in a deadpan tone. "Like I said, if you want me gone I'll leave. Either go ahead and push me off of Appa, or let me off at the fire temple."

Aang, Sokka, and Zuko debated this relatively silently for a few moments before deciding that they would let her off at the Fire Temple, per her request. Sokka was the only one that wanted to push her off, and he was only suggesting it in a joking manner. Momo seemed to understand that Toph was leaving, and seemed torn between her and Appa. None of the others noticed this, however.

* * *

_The seas between the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation, midday_

Zhao and Azula returned to the docks, where they received a surprising amount of information from the locals, including information on the Avatar, and the Last Firebender. The two appeared to be different people entirely, as it was becoming common knowledge that the Avatart was currently only a master airbender, and was still learning waterbending.

Neither Azula nor Zhao seemed interested in killing the elusive firebender, but they did wish to find her. However, these statements were only rumors, and so for the time, they decided to pursue the Avatar, whose location was backed by facts.

Thus, they continued their journey in pursuit of Aang, their fleets of ships and airships flanking them. They had an idea where he was going and continued in that direction. On the way, they ran into a small fleet of Southern Water Tribe ships, and a war started. The Air Warriors were swift and powerful in outnumbering the small fleet, and soon they were at the mercy of Zhao and the Air Warriors. Incidentally, Zhao had not been out fighting during this, and Azula seemed indifferent of Zhao's actions (or lack thereof).

Among the survivors was none other than Chief Iroh, who was brought to Azula and Zhao.

"Chief," Iroh frowned at Zhao, "I would like an explanation in regards to why my people were attacked by a fellow group of waterbenders."

"There are no waterbenders here save myself," Zhao explained, "and I was not part of the fighting."

"Then why do you condone Azula's methods?"

"I do it for the sake of the Water Tribes," Zhao answered, "if I can keep the Air Warriors on my side, I do not have to worry about myself, my tribe, or my people facing attack by them."

"so why do you do it, Azula?" Iroh snapped his head towards Azula.

"'tis a matter of control, Uncle." Azula smiled, "someone needs to show the world who is in charge. However, there is an obvious reason as to why we kept you alive, and why I personally have no desire to kill you. You must understand that I would have ideally wanted my Air Warriors to assimilate your waterbenders and warriors instead of attacking them, but there was no way I could have relayed the message so swiftly."

Iroh simply crossed his arms and frowned, giving off an indication that he clearly did not approve of the situation. However, he was not known for fighting dirty, and so it was unlikely that he would try to attack them. Right now he wanted information.

"I wish to know of your motives," Iroh nodded, "and what you wish to accomplish."

"Commander," an Air Warrior alerted Azula, "there is a naval and airship blockade up ahead. Our scouts indicate that it is being controlled by the Kyoshi Warriors."

"Well damn," Azula chuckled, "their influence is greater than even I suspected."

She turned to Iroh.

"Actually, I have a different motive, and a request I hope you will assist me in."

"I have no reason to help my enemies," Iroh crossed his arms, "until I learn that they are not truly my enemies."

Azula nodded and lowered her voice so that only Iroh and Zhao could hear.

"that is exactly what we are doing," Azula nodded, "there are different reasons as to why we want the Avatar, and I will assure you that is has nothing to do with supporting Ursa, Azulon, or Ilah."

"so if your plan does not involve eliminating the Avatar," Iroh noted, "what does it involve?"

"It involves keeping him alive." Zhao replied, "Also, chief—we have rumors about the last firebender."

This grabbed Iroh's attention.

"Help us get through this blockade and I assure you that our end of the bargain will be kept."

Iroh has always had a specific interest in the Fire Nation in his younger years, and ever since they were all but eradicated, he always hoped to find that some firebenders had escaped the grasp of the Air Warriors. His purposes were nothing malicious, or even selfish.

"You know what will happen if you fail to keep your part of the deal," Iroh warned shaking Azula's hand, and then Zhao's. "Until then, you have my support."

* * *

_The seas, later on in the day_

It was not long before Aang, Sokka, Zuko, and Toph noticed that they were being followed by a small fleet of ships. Toph was the one to point it out.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news yet again," she commented, "but we might want to pick up the pace, or we'll be deep fried by some airbenders."

Aang swore under his breath while Sokka and Zuko watched from behind alongside Toph.

"Uh, guys," Aang warned, "it's about to get a lot worse."

He indicated the blockade of ships, which immediately began firing at them with full intent of sending them straight to the ocean floor. Luckily for the gang, Appa was fast enough to avoid most of the shots, even without Aang's help. Aang deflected a few with airbending, and Zuko blocked some with his waterbending. Sokka and Toph simply laid low, not being able to do much else.

Appa dove towards the water, getting low enough as to wave between the ships. Ideally, it would make it harder for the ships to fire at them in fear of hitting their own, but the downside was that it would also make them an easier target.

Aang's reflexes and Appa's swift flying, however, proved superior, and they were able to cut through the blockade that the Kyoshi Warriors were controlling. As they passed, Toph's eyes met with those of a woman standing on the ship they had just barely avoided hitting. The moment almost seemed to go in slow motion, as Toph and Suki's eyes locked onto each other for that fleeting moment.

"it's Suki!" she exclaimed to the others a moment later. "she's built an army!"

"Suki's behind this!" Zuko gawked, "damn. That just makes things suck a lot more for us."

"Why's that?" Sokka raised an eyebrow, "I thought the only one she hated was Toph."

"Aang's the Avatar," Zuko noted, "Suki probably wants in on the glory."

They continued dodging the attacks from the blockade until they were nearly hit. The bomb hit the water just below Appa, jolting them enough to send Toph flying overboard and into the water. Zuko wasted no time in going after her. Rival or not, she was still not an enemy, and so she deserved to be rescued from this type of fate.

Zuko froze the water that he jumped off of Appa and onto, and froze himself a path towards Toph. Before he even hit the ice, he used a cutting movement with his foot to freeze himself a board of ice. He used this to glide upon his other ice, and zipped by Toph, snatching her right out of the water. It almost seemed like Zuko was showing off with how skilled he was on the ice. Nevertheless, he simply used his bending to launch himself and Toph off of an ice ramp and back onto Appa's saddle.

"that… was pretty impressive." Sokka noted. Toph sputtered a little and shook her hair to get some of the water out.

"Thanks, I guess," she nodded in Zuko's direction.

"Didn't we vote against pushing you off into the water?" Zuko joked. This made Toph smile.

"thanks, Zuko," Aang nodded, "sorry if I was sounding like a jerk earlier, Toph."

"I understand it. I suppose I'll explain it after we get out of here…"

"sounds reasonable enough, Sokka shrugged, "but after all of that dodging, I'm beat."

The others rolled their eyes, since Sokka had done little, and had not been stranded in the ocean. They chuckled, and for the moment, resumed their peaceful flying.


End file.
